shylock
/ˈʃaɪlɑk/
"shylock" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“shylock” is uncommon English (frequency #57,070 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #57,070
- frequency rank, English
- 6,566
- “S” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - A loan shark; a usurer.
Corpus desk
Index EN-shylock · shylock · English
shylock · rank #57,070 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #57,070
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 6,566
- PHOTO-FINISH shure
Nearest frequency peer: shure (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “shylock”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- Sherbrooke
Sherbrooke
42,936 corpus weight
- shogunate
shogunate
42,933 corpus weight
- shure
shure
42,932 corpus weight
- shylock
shylock
42,931 corpus weight
- Sidon
Sidon
42,930 corpus weight
- Sindhu
Sindhu
42,928 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “shylock” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | shylock |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈʃaɪlɑk/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #57,070 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “shylock” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
shylock is uncommon English at frequency #57,070 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈʃaɪlɑk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for shylock in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From the character Shylock in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice (1600). The correct English form is shylock, spelled S-H-Y-L-O-C-K.
Definition
- 1A loan shark; a usurer.
- 2A person of Jewish descent.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how shylock appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Eventually, their gambling debts grow so big that they are cut off from making any more bets, eliminating the chance that they can make enough money to satisfy their shylocks.
If a guy got into hock with several shylocks from different crews and was unable to keep up with his weekly payments, a sit-down would have to be called with all of the shylocks involved and their respective capos.
Etymology
From the character Shylock in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice (1600).
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "shylock", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
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.