snake

/sneɪk/

//sneɪk// noun

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

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

The verdict

“snake” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #4,895. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#4,895
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any of the suborder Serpentes of legless reptile with long, thin bodies and fork-shaped tongues.

Corpus desk

Index EN-snake · snake · English

snake · rank #4,895 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #4,895
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH shed

Nearest frequency peer: shed (-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 “snake”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “snake” 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).

snake vs snap
60% similar
snake vs soak
60% similar
snake vs state
60% similar

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

Key facts for snake
PropertyValue
Headwordsnake
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/sneɪk/
Letters5
Frequency rank#4,895
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “snake”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).snakelands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “shed” (#4,894), “sponsored” (#4,896), “settings” (#4,893). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “snake” is #4,895. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around snake (IPA /sneɪk/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #4,895 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 12 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for snake, with forms such as "nsake", "sanke", and "snaek". 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, "snap", "soak", "state", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English snake, from Old English snaca (“snake, serpent, reptile”), from Proto-West Germanic *snakō (“slider, snake”), from *snakan (“to creep, slide”), related to Old High German snahhan (“to sneak, slide”). Compare also Proto-Germanic *snēkô (“… The correct English form is snake, spelled S-N-A-K-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any of the suborder Serpentes of legless reptile with long, thin bodies and fork-shaped tongues.
  2. 2
    A person who acts deceitfully for personal or social gain; a treacherous person.
  3. 3
    A tool for unclogging plumbing.
  4. 4
    A tool to aid cable pulling.
  5. 5
    A flavoured jube (confectionary) in the shape of a snake.
  6. 6
    Trouser snake; the penis.
  7. 7
    A series of Bézier curves.
  8. 8
    The seventh Lenormand card.
  9. 9
    An informer; a rat.
  10. 10
    Ellipsis of snake in the tunnel.
  11. 11
    Ellipsis of black snake (“firework that creates a trail of ash”).
  12. 12
    Ellipsis of snake game.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The man writhed like a trampled snake, and a red foam bubbled from his lips.
  2. After dark the train is a lighted snake, as, even when the passengers' lights are out, each carriage has a side-light in the middle just under the eaves.

Etymology

From Middle English snake, from Old English snaca (“snake, serpent, reptile”), from Proto-West Germanic *snakō (“slider, snake”), from *snakan (“to creep, slide”), related to Old High German snahhan (“to sneak, slide”). Compare also Proto-Germanic *snēkô (“creeper, crawler”). Cognate with German Low German Snake, Snaak (“snake”), dialectal German Schnake (“adder”), Danish snog (“grass snake”), Swedish snok (“grass snake”), Norwegian Nynorsk snåk (“viper, adder”), Faroese snákur (“grass snake”), Icelandic snákur (“snake”).

Synonyms

danger noodlesnakeserpent

This word in other languages

serpiente(Español)serpent(Français)Schlange(Deutsch)serpente(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • nsake
  • sanke
  • snaek
  • snakke
  • snkae
  • snnake
  • ssnake

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of snake - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

nsake2sanke2snaek2snakke1snkae2snnake1ssnake1
Edit distance from "snake"

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 "snake"?
"snake" is spelled S-N-A-K-E. The IPA pronunciation is /sneɪk/.
What does "snake" mean?
As a noun, "snake" means: Any of the suborder Serpentes of legless reptile with long, thin bodies and fork-shaped tongues.
What words are commonly confused with "snake"?
"snake" is commonly confused with "snap", "soak", "state". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "snake"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "snake" is /sneɪk/. 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 "snake"?
From Middle English snake, from Old English snaca (“snake, serpent, reptile”), from Proto-West Germanic *snakō (“slider, snake”), from *snakan (“to creep, slide”), related to Old High German snahhan (“to sneak, slide”). Compare also Proto-Germanic... 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 "snake", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

rolls#4,889tasks#4,904trips#4,905ranks#4,884

Similar misspelling depth

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

rubber7 variantsultra7 variantsmaker7 variantscanal7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list