shoulder

/ˈʃəʊldə/

//ˈʃəʊldə// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"shoulder" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“shoulder” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #3,025. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#3,025
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
6
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The part of an animal's body between the base of the neck and arm socket.

Corpus desk

Index EN-shoulder · shoulder · English

shoulder · rank #3,025 · 12 variants · 6 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,025
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 6 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH shower

Nearest frequency peer: shower (+1 rank slots)

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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “shoulder”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “shoulder” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

shoulder vs solder
75% similar
shoulder vs shudder
75% similar
shoulder vs shoulders
89% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for shoulder
PropertyValue
Headwordshoulder
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈʃəʊldə/
Letters8
Frequency rank#3,025
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs6
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “shoulder”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).shoulderlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “shower” (#3,026), “roman” (#3,023), “rid” (#3,022). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “shoulder” is #3,025. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around shoulder (IPA /ˈʃəʊldə/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #3,025 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 18 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for shoulder, with forms such as "hsoulder", "shhoulder", and "sholuder". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 6 confusable-pair relationships, "solder", "shudder", "shoulders", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English schuldre, sholder, shulder, schulder, from Old English sculdra, sculdor (“shoulder”), from Proto-West Germanic *skuldru (“shoulder”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps related to Proto-Germanic *skelduz (“shield”), see shield. Cognate with Ol… The correct English form is shoulder, spelled S-H-O-U-L-D-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    The part of an animal's body between the base of the neck and arm socket.
  2. 2
    The part of an animal's body between the base of the neck and arm socket.
  3. 3
    The part of an animal's body between the base of the neck and arm socket.
  4. 4
    The part of an animal's body between the base of the neck and arm socket.
  5. 5
    Anything forming a shape resembling a human shoulder.
  6. 6
    A shelf between two levels.
  7. 7
    A shelf between two levels.
  8. 8
    A shelf between two levels.
  9. 9
    A shelf between two levels.
  10. 10
    A shelf between two levels.
  11. 11
    The flat portion of type that is below the bevelled portion that joins up with the face.
  12. 12
    The portion between the neck and the body.
  13. 13
    The portion between the neck and the body.
  14. 14
    The portion between the neck and the body.
  15. 15
    That which supports or sustains; support.
  16. 16
    The part of a key between the cuts and the bow.
  17. 17
    The part of a wave that has not yet broken.
  18. 18
    A season or a time of day when there is relatively little air traffic.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The parrot was sitting on Steve's shoulder.
  2. But then I had the flintlock by me for protection. ¶ There were giants in the days when that gun was made; for surely no modern mortal could have held that mass of metal steady to his shoulder. The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window[…].

Etymology

From Middle English schuldre, sholder, shulder, schulder, from Old English sculdra, sculdor (“shoulder”), from Proto-West Germanic *skuldru (“shoulder”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps related to Proto-Germanic *skelduz (“shield”), see shield. Cognate with Old Frisian skuldere (“shoulder”) (West Frisian skouder (“shoulder”)), Middle Low German scholder (“shoulder”), Low German Schuller, Schulder (“shoulder”), Dutch schouder (“shoulder”), German Schulter (“shoulder”).

This word in other languages

paleta(Español)épaule(Français)Schulter(Deutsch)ombro(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • hsoulder
  • shhoulder
  • sholuder
  • shoudler
  • shouldder
  • shoulderr
  • shouldre
  • shouledr
  • shoullder
  • shuolder
  • sohulder
  • sshoulder

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of shoulder - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

hsoulder2shhoulder1sholuder2shoudler2shouldder1shoulderr1shouldre2shouledr2
Edit distance from "shoulder"

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

How do you spell "shoulder"?
"shoulder" is spelled S-H-O-U-L-D-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈʃəʊldə/.
What does "shoulder" mean?
As a noun, "shoulder" means: The part of an animal's body between the base of the neck and arm socket.
What words are commonly confused with "shoulder"?
"shoulder" is commonly confused with "solder", "shudder", "shoulders". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "shoulder"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "shoulder" is /ˈʃəʊldə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "shoulder"?
From Middle English schuldre, sholder, shulder, schulder, from Old English sculdra, sculdor (“shoulder”), from Proto-West Germanic *skuldru (“shoulder”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps related to Proto-Germanic *skelduz (“shield”), see shield. Cogna... See the full etymology section above for more details.
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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "shoulder", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

stations#3,029achieved#3,037admitted#3,038memories#3,008

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

monthly12 variantsdocument12 variantshistoric12 variantsvaluable12 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list