snare

/snɛ(ə)ɹ/

//snɛ(ə)ɹ// noun

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

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

The verdict

“snare” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #21,069. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#21,069
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A trap (especially one made from a loop of wire, string, or leather).

Corpus desk

Index EN-snare · snare · English

snare · rank #21,069 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #21,069
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH smoothie

Nearest frequency peer: smoothie (-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 “snare”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “snare” 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).

snare vs Snr
40% similar
snare vs sure
60% similar
snare vs star
60% similar

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

Key facts for snare
PropertyValue
Headwordsnare
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/snɛ(ə)ɹ/
Letters5
Frequency rank#21,069
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “snare”

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).snarelands 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 “smoothie” (#21,068), “slum” (#21,067), “snowflake” (#21,071). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “snare” is #21,069. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around snare (IPA /snɛ(ə)ɹ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #21,069 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for snare, with forms such as "nsare", "sanre", and "snaer". 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, "Snr", "sure", "star", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English snare, from Old English sneare (“snare, noose”), from Proto-West Germanic *snarhā, from Proto-Germanic *snarhǭ (“a sling; loop; noose”). Cognate with Old Norse snara. Also related to German Schnur and Dutch snaar, snoer. The correct English form is snare, spelled S-N-A-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A trap (especially one made from a loop of wire, string, or leather).
  2. 2
    A mental or psychological trap.
  3. 3
    A loop of cord used in obstetric cases, to hold or to pull a fetus from the mother animal.
  4. 4
    A similar looped instrument formerly used to remove tumours etc.
  5. 5
    A set of stiff wires held under tension against the bottom head of a drum to create a rattling sound.
  6. 6
    A snare drum.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. He […] watched Beavis’s long-toothed mouth open and clap to like a rabbit snare.
  2. He felt a snare tightening around his throat; he gasped and threw a leg out of the bed, where it jerked for a second or two, thumping the steel frame, and died.

Etymology

From Middle English snare, from Old English sneare (“snare, noose”), from Proto-West Germanic *snarhā, from Proto-Germanic *snarhǭ (“a sling; loop; noose”). Cognate with Old Norse snara. Also related to German Schnur and Dutch snaar, snoer.

This word in other languages

lazo(Español)collet(Français)Schlinge(Deutsch)laço(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • nsare
  • sanre
  • snaer
  • snarre
  • snnare
  • snrae
  • ssnare

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of snare - 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.

nsare2sanre2snaer2snarre1snnare1snrae2ssnare1
Edit distance from "snare"

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 "snare"?
"snare" is spelled S-N-A-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is /snɛ(ə)ɹ/.
What does "snare" mean?
As a noun, "snare" means: A trap (especially one made from a loop of wire, string, or leather).
What words are commonly confused with "snare"?
"snare" is commonly confused with "Snr", "sure", "star". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "snare"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "snare" is /snɛ(ə)ɹ/. 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 "snare"?
From Middle English snare, from Old English sneare (“snare, noose”), from Proto-West Germanic *snarhā, from Proto-Germanic *snarhǭ (“a sling; loop; noose”). Cognate with Old Norse snara. Also related to German Schnur and Dutch snaar, snoer. 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 "snare", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

slade#21,065stomp#21,078scrum#21,057sauna#21,054

Similar misspelling depth

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

timid7 variantsquilt7 variantstweed7 variantsuncut7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list