smudge
/smʌd͡ʒ/
"smudge" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“smudge” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #36,762 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #36,762
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 6
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A blemish or smear, especially a dark or sooty one.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | smudge |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /smʌd͡ʒ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #36,762 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 6 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “smudge” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for smudge is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /smʌd͡ʒ/. Corpus data places it at rank #36,762 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for smudge, with forms such as "msudge", "smduge", and "smmudge". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 6 confusable-pair relationships, "smug", "surge", "smuggle", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Derived from the verb (see below). Doublet of smutch. The correct English form is smudge, spelled S-M-U-D-G-E.
Definition
- 1A blemish or smear, especially a dark or sooty one.
- 2Dense smoke, such as that used for fumigation.
- 3A heap of damp combustibles partially ignited and burning slowly, placed on the windward side of a house, tent, etc. to keep off mosquitoes or other insects.
- 4A quantity of herbs used in suffumigation.
Etymology
Derived from the verb (see below). Doublet of smutch.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: msudge,smduge,smmudge,smuddge,smudeg,smudgge,smugde,ssmudge,sumdge
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of smudge - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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
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Using “smudge”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-M-U-D-G-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /smʌd͡ʒ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “smug” - see the side-by-side comparison. smudge vs smug
- 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.