shred

/ʃɹɛd/

//ʃɹɛd// noun

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

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

The verdict

“shred” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #19,203. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#19,203
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A fragment of something; a particle; a piece; also, a very small amount.

Corpus desk

Index EN-shred · shred · English

shred · rank #19,203 · 8 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #19,203
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH sensed

Nearest frequency peer: sensed (-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 “shred”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “shred” 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).

shred vs sure
60% similar
shred vs sore
60% similar
shred vs sued
60% similar

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

Key facts for shred
PropertyValue
Headwordshred
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ʃɹɛd/
Letters5
Frequency rank#19,203
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “shred”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).shredlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “sensed” (#19,202), “sideline” (#19,204), “selectively” (#19,201). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “shred” is #19,203. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around shred (IPA /ʃɹɛd/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #19,203 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for shred, with forms such as "hsred", "sherd", and "shhred". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "sure", "sore", "sued", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English shrede, shred (“fragment, piece, scrap; piece cut off from something; strip of material; ornamental strip hanging from the edge of a garment; thread; band or thread woven in a garment; element, streak; plant (?)”) [and other forms], from… The correct English form is shred, spelled S-H-R-E-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    A fragment of something; a particle; a piece; also, a very small amount.
  2. 2
    A long, narrow piece (especially of fabric) cut or torn off; a strip; specifically, a piece of cloth or clothing.
  3. 3
    A long, narrow piece (especially of fabric) cut or torn off; a strip; specifically, a piece of cloth or clothing.
  4. 4
    A long, narrow piece (especially of fabric) cut or torn off; a strip; specifically, a piece of cloth or clothing.
  5. 5
    A piece of gold or silver lace or thread.
  6. 6
    A shard or sherd (“a piece of broken glass or pottery”).
  7. 7
    A tailor.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. There isn’t a shred of evidence to support his claims.
  2. His gayeſt flooriſhes are but Gaſcoignes Weedes, or Tarletons trickes, or Greenes crankes, or Marlowes bravadoes; his jeſts, but the dregges of common ſcurrilitie, or the ſhreds of the Theater, or the of-ſcouring of new pamflets: […]

Etymology

From Middle English shrede, shred (“fragment, piece, scrap; piece cut off from something; strip of material; ornamental strip hanging from the edge of a garment; thread; band or thread woven in a garment; element, streak; plant (?)”) [and other forms], from Late Old English sċrēad, sċrēade (“piece cut off from something; a paring; a shred”), from Proto-Germanic *skraudō (“a piece, shred; a crack; a cut”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut off”). Doublet of escrow.

This word in other languages

triza(Español)lambeau(Français)Fitzel(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • hsred
  • sherd
  • shhred
  • shrde
  • shredd
  • shrred
  • srhed
  • sshred

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of shred - 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.

hsred2sherd2shhred1shrde2shredd1shrred1srhed2sshred1
Edit distance from "shred"

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 "shred"?
"shred" is spelled S-H-R-E-D. The IPA pronunciation is /ʃɹɛd/.
What does "shred" mean?
As a noun, "shred" means: A fragment of something; a particle; a piece; also, a very small amount.
What words are commonly confused with "shred"?
"shred" is commonly confused with "sure", "sore", "sued". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "shred"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "shred" is /ʃɹɛd/. 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 "shred"?
From Middle English shrede, shred (“fragment, piece, scrap; piece cut off from something; strip of material; ornamental strip hanging from the edge of a garment; thread; band or thread woven in a garment; element, streak; plant (?)”) [and other fo... 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 "shred", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

seams#19,199rowan#19,194roche#19,192synod#19,225

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

teased8 variantsAubrey8 variantsCalais8 variantscrease8 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list