shredder
/ʃɹɛdə(ɹ)/
"shredder" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“shredder” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #30,223 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #30,223
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A person who shreds or tears something.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | shredder |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ʃɹɛdə(ɹ)/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #30,223 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “shredder” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for shredder is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ʃɹɛdə(ɹ)/. Corpus data places it at rank #30,223 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for shredder, with forms such as "hsredder", "sherdder", and "shhredder". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "shudder", "spreader", "shredded", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From shred + -er. The correct English form is shredder, spelled S-H-R-E-D-D-E-R.
Definition
- 1A person who shreds or tears something.
- 2A machine that tears up objects into smaller pieces, especially a paper shredder, garbage shredder or gardening or farming shredder.
- 3A program that overwrites deleted data to prevent recovery.
- 4Someone who snowboards; a snowboarder.
- 5One who shreds, or plays (especially the guitar) very fast.
Etymology
From shred + -er.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: hsredder,sherdder,shhredder,shrdeder,shredderr,shreddre,shrededr,shreder,shrredder,srhedder,sshredder
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of shredder - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "shredder"?
What does "shredder" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "shredder"?
How do you pronounce "shredder"?
What is the origin of the word "shredder"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “shredder”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-H-R-E-D-D-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ʃɹɛdə(ɹ)/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “shudder” - see the side-by-side comparison. shredder vs shudder
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.