shoehorn
/ˈʃuːˌhɔːn/
"shoehorn" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“shoehorn” is uncommon English (frequency #79,971 among 54,294 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #79,971
- frequency rank, English
- 54,294
- “S” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A smooth tool that assists in putting the foot into a shoe, by sliding the heel in after the toe is in place.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | shoehorn |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈʃuːˌhɔːn/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #79,971 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “shoehorn” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
shoehorn is uncommon English at frequency #79,971 among 54,294 “S” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈʃuːˌhɔːn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
shoehorn has no tracked misspelling variants, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From shoe + horn. The correct English form is shoehorn, spelled S-H-O-E-H-O-R-N.
Definition
- 1A smooth tool that assists in putting the foot into a shoe, by sliding the heel in after the toe is in place.
- 2Anything by which a transaction is facilitated; a medium.
- 3Anything which draws on or allures; an inducement.
Etymology
From shoe + horn.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “shoehorn”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-H-O-E-H-O-R-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈʃuːˌhɔːn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.