shrubbery

/ˈʃɹʌbəɹi/

//ˈʃɹʌbəɹi// noun

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

"shrubbery" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“shrubbery” is uncommon English (frequency #52,628 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#52,628
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A planting of shrubs; a wide border to a garden where shrubs are thickly planted; or a similar larger area with a path winding through it.

Corpus desk

Index EN-shrubbery · shrubbery · English

shrubbery · rank #52,628 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #52,628
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH shortwave

Nearest frequency peer: shortwave (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “shrubbery”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “shrubbery” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for shrubbery
PropertyValue
Headwordshrubbery
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈʃɹʌbəɹi/
Letters9
Frequency rank#52,628
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “shrubbery” in English

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).shrubberyfalls in this rarity band:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “shortwave” (#52,627), “shura” (#52,629), “shied” (#52,626). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “shrubbery” is #52,628. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

shrubbery is uncommon English at frequency #52,628 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈʃɹʌbəɹi/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for shrubbery in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From shrub + -ery. The correct English form is shrubbery, spelled S-H-R-U-B-B-E-R-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    A planting of shrubs; a wide border to a garden where shrubs are thickly planted; or a similar larger area with a path winding through it.
  2. 2
    Shrubs collectively.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. dense shrubbery
  2. trim the shrubbery

Etymology

From shrub + -ery.

This word in other languages

matorral(Español)fruticée(Français)Gesträuch(Deutsch)

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 "shrubbery"?
"shrubbery" is spelled S-H-R-U-B-B-E-R-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈʃɹʌbəɹi/.
What does "shrubbery" mean?
As a noun, "shrubbery" means: A planting of shrubs; a wide border to a garden where shrubs are thickly planted; or a similar larger area with a path winding through it.
How do you pronounce "shrubbery"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "shrubbery" is /ˈʃɹʌbəɹi/. 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 "shrubbery"?
From shrub + -ery. 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 "shrubbery", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

shortwave#52,627separable#52,624spillover#52,640Reticulum#52,597

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list