skua
/ˈskjuːə/
"skua" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“skua” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 4
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any of various predatory seabirds of the genus Stercorarius that often chase other seabirds to steal their catches.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | skua |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈskjuːə/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “skua” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for skua is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈskjuːə/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Any of various predatory seabirds of the genus Stercorarius that often chase other seabirds to steal their catches.".
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for skua, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Faroese skúgvur (“Great Skua”), from Old Norse skúfr, of unknown origin. The correct English form is skua, spelled S-K-U-A.
Definition
- 1Any of various predatory seabirds of the genus Stercorarius that often chase other seabirds to steal their catches.
Etymology
From Faroese skúgvur (“Great Skua”), from Old Norse skúfr, of unknown origin.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “skua”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-K-U-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈskjuːə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.