shout

/ʃaʊt/

//ʃaʊt// noun

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

"shout" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“shout” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #6,519. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#6,519
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A loud burst of voice or voices; a violent and sudden outcry, especially that of a multitude expressing joy, triumph, exultation, anger, or great effort.

Corpus desk

Index EN-shout · shout · English

shout · rank #6,519 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,519
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH shadows

Nearest frequency peer: shadows (-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 “shout”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “shout” 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).

shout vs sou
60% similar
shout vs sot
60% similar
shout vs show
60% similar

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

Key facts for shout
PropertyValue
Headwordshout
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ʃaʊt/
Letters5
Frequency rank#6,519
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “shout”

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).shoutlands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “shadows” (#6,518), “sierra” (#6,520), “rope” (#6,517). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “shout” is #6,519. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around shout (IPA /ʃaʊt/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #6,519 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for shout, with forms such as "hsout", "shhout", and "shotu". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "sou", "sot", "show", 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 shouten. Further origin uncertain. Possibly related to Middle English shooten (“to shoot (out)”) or from or akin to Old Norse skúta (“to chide, scold”), Old Norse skúti, skúta (“a taunt”). See also the second, rare sense of the verb scou… The correct English form is shout, spelled S-H-O-U-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    A loud burst of voice or voices; a violent and sudden outcry, especially that of a multitude expressing joy, triumph, exultation, anger, or great effort.
  2. 2
    A round of drinks in a pub; the turn to pay the shot or scot; an act of paying for a round of drinks.
  3. 3
    A call-out for an emergency services team.
  4. 4
    A greeting, name-check or other mention, for example on a radio or TV program.
  5. 5
    A suggestion; an idea.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. give out a shout
  2. hear a desperate shout

Etymology

From Middle English shouten. Further origin uncertain. Possibly related to Middle English shooten (“to shoot (out)”) or from or akin to Old Norse skúta (“to chide, scold”), Old Norse skúti, skúta (“a taunt”). See also the second, rare sense of the verb scout (“to reject with contempt”).

This word in other languages

grito(Español)cri(Français)Schrei(Deutsch)grito(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • hsout
  • shhout
  • shotu
  • shoutt
  • shuot
  • sohut
  • sshout

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of shout - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

hsout2shhout1shotu2shoutt1shuot2sohut2sshout1
Edit distance from "shout"

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 "shout"?
"shout" is spelled S-H-O-U-T. The IPA pronunciation is /ʃaʊt/.
What does "shout" mean?
As a noun, "shout" means: A loud burst of voice or voices; a violent and sudden outcry, especially that of a multitude expressing joy, triumph, exultation, anger, or great effort.
What words are commonly confused with "shout"?
"shout" is commonly confused with "sou", "sot", "show". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "shout"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "shout" is /ʃaʊt/. 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 "shout"?
From Middle English shouten. Further origin uncertain. Possibly related to Middle English shooten (“to shoot (out)”) or from or akin to Old Norse skúta (“to chide, scold”), Old Norse skúti, skúta (“a taunt”). See also the second, rare sense of the... 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 "shout", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

rides#6,515realm#6,512pulse#6,507alter#6,540

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

ripped7 variantsLinda7 variantscrops7 variantsheels7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list