shop steward

noun

"shop-steward" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“shop steward” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
12
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A local member of a trade union elected to represent his fellow workers in discussions with the management at a workplace.

Corpus desk

Index EN-shop-steward · shop steward · English

shop steward · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 12 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "S" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for shop steward
PropertyValue
Headwordshop steward
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters12
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “shop steward” in English

shop stewardranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

shop steward is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A local member of a trade union elected to represent his fellow workers in discussions with the management at a workplace.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for shop steward, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct English form is shop steward, spelled S-H-O-P- -S-T-E-W-A-R-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    A local member of a trade union elected to represent his fellow workers in discussions with the management at a workplace.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how shop steward appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. It is understood that ScotRail made a revised offer of 2.5%, but the RMT national executive committee is likely to reject this following consultation with shop stewards.

Synonyms

union delegateunion representativeunion stewardworkplace stewardfather of chapel

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "shop steward"?
"shop steward" is spelled S-H-O-P- -S-T-E-W-A-R-D.
What does "shop steward" mean?
As a noun, "shop steward" means: A local member of a trade union elected to represent his fellow workers in discussions with the management at a workplace.
What language does "shop steward" come from?
"shop steward" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list