shroud

/ʃraʊd/

//ʃraʊd// noun

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

"shroud" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“shroud” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #23,394. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#23,394
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
9
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - That which clothes, covers, conceals, or protects; a garment.

Corpus desk

Index EN-shroud · shroud · English

shroud · rank #23,394 · 9 variants · 9 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #23,394
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 9 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH shilling

Nearest frequency peer: shilling (-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 “shroud”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “shroud” 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).

shroud vs shrug
67% similar
shroud vs shrub
67% similar
shroud vs sprout
67% similar

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

Key facts for shroud
PropertyValue
Headwordshroud
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ʃraʊd/
Letters6
Frequency rank#23,394
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs9
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “shroud”

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).shroudlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “shilling” (#23,393), “Shenzhen” (#23,392), “SJ” (#23,396). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “shroud” is #23,394. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around shroud (IPA /ʃraʊd/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #23,394 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for shroud, with forms such as "hsroud", "shhroud", and "shorud". 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 9 confusable-pair relationships, "shrug", "shrub", "sprout", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English shroud, from Old English sċrūd, from Proto-Germanic *skrūdą. Cognate with Old Norse skrúð (“the shrouds of a ship”) ( > Danish, Norwegian skrud (“splendid attire”)). The correct English form is shroud, spelled S-H-R-O-U-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    That which clothes, covers, conceals, or protects; a garment.
  2. 2
    Especially, the dress for the dead; a winding sheet.
  3. 3
    That which covers or shelters like a shroud.
  4. 4
    A covered place used as a retreat or shelter, as a cave or den; also, a vault or crypt.
  5. 5
    One of a set of ropes or cables (rigging) attaching a mast to the sides of a vessel or to another anchor point, serving to support the mast sideways; such rigging collectively.
  6. 6
    One of the two annular plates at the periphery of a water wheel, which form the sides of the buckets; a shroud plate.
  7. 7
    A streamlined protective covering used to protect the payload during a rocket-powered launch.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. swaddled, as new born, in sable shrouds
  2. Every time we came a research area, we had to pause while the scientists threw grey shrouds over prototypes that I wasn’t to see.

Etymology

From Middle English shroud, from Old English sċrūd, from Proto-Germanic *skrūdą. Cognate with Old Norse skrúð (“the shrouds of a ship”) ( > Danish, Norwegian skrud (“splendid attire”)).

Synonyms

sindon

This word in other languages

velo(Español)voile(Français)Grabtuch(Deutsch)mortalha(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • hsroud
  • shhroud
  • shorud
  • shrodu
  • shroudd
  • shrroud
  • shruod
  • srhoud
  • sshroud

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

hsroud2shhroud1shorud2shrodu2shroudd1shrroud1shruod2srhoud2
Edit distance from "shroud"

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 "shroud"?
"shroud" is spelled S-H-R-O-U-D. The IPA pronunciation is /ʃraʊd/.
What does "shroud" mean?
As a noun, "shroud" means: That which clothes, covers, conceals, or protects; a garment.
What words are commonly confused with "shroud"?
"shroud" is commonly confused with "shrug", "shrub", "sprout". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "shroud"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "shroud" is /ʃraʊd/. 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 "shroud"?
From Middle English shroud, from Old English sċrūd, from Proto-Germanic *skrūdą. Cognate with Old Norse skrúð (“the shrouds of a ship”) ( > Danish, Norwegian skrud (“splendid attire”)). 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 "shroud", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Slovak#23,399Tarzan#23,413ration#23,374Telugu#23,415

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

rapport9 variantsweakly9 variantspebbles9 variantsLarkin9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list