skies

/skaɪz/

//skaɪz// noun

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

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

The verdict

“skies” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #8,204. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#8,204
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - plural of sky though essentially synonymous with singular form; the heavens; the firmament; the atmosphere.

Corpus desk

Index EN-skies · skies · English

skies · rank #8,204 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #8,204
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH shortage

Nearest frequency peer: shortage (-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 “skies”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “skies” 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).

skies vs skin
60% similar
skies vs skip
60% similar
skies vs Skye
40% similar

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

Key facts for skies
PropertyValue
Headwordskies
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/skaɪz/
Letters5
Frequency rank#8,204
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “skies”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).skieslands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “shortage” (#8,203), “smarter” (#8,205), “Sheffield” (#8,202). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “skies” is #8,204. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around skies (IPA /skaɪz/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #8,204 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for skies, with forms such as "ksies", "sikes", and "skeis". 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, "skin", "skip", "Skye", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is skies, spelled S-K-I-E-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    plural of sky though essentially synonymous with singular form; the heavens; the firmament; the atmosphere.
  2. 2
    plural of skie.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. "And as their valour, so you trow, defied on aspe'rous voyage cruel harm and sore, so many changing skies their manhood tried, such climes where storm-winds blow and billows roar[.]"
  2. It is tempting to speculate about the incentives or compulsions that might explain why anyone would take to the skies in [the] basket [of a balloon]: perhaps out of a desire to escape the gravity of this world or to get a preview of the next; […].

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ksies
  • sikes
  • skeis
  • skiess
  • skise
  • skkies
  • sskies

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ksies2sikes2skeis2skiess1skise2skkies1sskies1
Edit distance from "skies"

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 "skies"?
"skies" is spelled S-K-I-E-S. The IPA pronunciation is /skaɪz/.
What does "skies" mean?
As a noun, "skies" means: plural of sky though essentially synonymous with singular form; the heavens; the firmament; the atmosphere.
What words are commonly confused with "skies"?
"skies" is commonly confused with "skin", "skip", "Skye". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "skies"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "skies" is /skaɪz/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "skies" come from?
"skies" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 "skies", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Ricky#8,197stare#8,211plaza#8,186paste#8,183

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

Nixon7 variantsballoon7 variantsbeers7 variantsboobs7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list