slime

/slaɪm/

//slaɪm// noun

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

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

The verdict

“slime” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #17,721. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#17,721
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Soft, moist earth or clay, having an adhesive quality; viscous mud; any substance of a dirty nature, that is moist, soft, and adhesive; bitumen; mud containing metallic ore, obtained in the prepara...

Corpus desk

Index EN-slime · slime · English

slime · rank #17,721 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #17,721
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH sixteenth

Nearest frequency peer: sixteenth (-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 “slime”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “slime” 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).

slime vs SME
0% similar
slime vs some
60% similar
slime vs slip
60% similar

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

Key facts for slime
PropertyValue
Headwordslime
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/slaɪm/
Letters5
Frequency rank#17,721
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “slime”

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “sixteenth” (#17,720), “sow” (#17,722), “sighs” (#17,719). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “slime” is #17,721. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around slime (IPA /slaɪm/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #17,721 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 8 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for slime, with forms such as "lsime", "silme", and "sliem". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "SME", "some", "slip", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English slime, slyme, slim, slym, from Old English slīm, from Proto-West Germanic *slīm, from Proto-Germanic *slīmą, from Proto-Indo-European *sley- (“smooth; slick; sticky; slimy”). Cognates include Saterland Frisian Sliem, Dutch slijm, German … The correct English form is slime, spelled S-L-I-M-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Soft, moist earth or clay, having an adhesive quality; viscous mud; any substance of a dirty nature, that is moist, soft, and adhesive; bitumen; mud containing metallic ore, obtained in the preparatory dressing.
  2. 2
    Any mucilaginous substance; or a mucus-like substance which exudes from the bodies of certain animals, such as snails or slugs.
  3. 3
    Synonym of flubber (“kind of rubbery polymer”).
  4. 4
    A sneaky, unethical person; a slimeball.
  5. 5
    A monster having the form of a slimy blob.
  6. 6
    Human flesh, seen disparagingly; mere human form.
  7. 7
    Jew’s slime (bitumen).
  8. 8
    A friend; a homie.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. As it [the Nile] ebbs, the seedsman / Upon the slime and ooze scatters his grain.
  2. You ſhould rub your Teeth and whole Mouth and Gums, the Pallate and Tongue, with a clean courſe cloth, rubbing off the ſlime which groweth upon them in the night.

Etymology

From Middle English slime, slyme, slim, slym, from Old English slīm, from Proto-West Germanic *slīm, from Proto-Germanic *slīmą, from Proto-Indo-European *sley- (“smooth; slick; sticky; slimy”). Cognates include Saterland Frisian Sliem, Dutch slijm, German Schleim (“mucus, slime”), Danish slim, Faroese slím (“slime”), Latin limus (“mud”), Ancient Greek λίμνη (límnē, “marsh”).

This word in other languages

limo(Español)boue(Français)Schleim(Deutsch)limo(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • lsime
  • silme
  • sliem
  • slimme
  • sllime
  • slmie
  • sslime

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of slime - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

lsime2silme2sliem2slimme1sllime1slmie2sslime1
Edit distance from "slime"

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 "slime"?
"slime" is spelled S-L-I-M-E. The IPA pronunciation is /slaɪm/.
What does "slime" mean?
As a noun, "slime" means: Soft, moist earth or clay, having an adhesive quality; viscous mud; any substance of a dirty nature, that is moist, soft, and adhesive; bitumen; mud containing metallic ore, obtained in the prepara...
What words are commonly confused with "slime"?
"slime" is commonly confused with "SME", "some", "slip". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "slime"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "slime" is /slaɪm/. 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 "slime"?
From Middle English slime, slyme, slim, slym, from Old English slīm, from Proto-West Germanic *slīm, from Proto-Germanic *slīmą, from Proto-Indo-European *sley- (“smooth; slick; sticky; slimy”). Cognates include Saterland Frisian Sliem, Dutch slij... 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 "slime", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

sighs#17,719spawn#17,724semen#17,713Tanya#17,732

Similar misspelling depth

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

towed7 variantsuphill7 variantsUpton7 variantsAdolf7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list