snug

/snʌɡ/

//snʌɡ// adj

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

"snug" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“snug” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #25,585. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#25,585
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Warm and comfortable; cosy.

Corpus desk

Index EN-snug · snug · English

snug · rank #25,585 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #25,585
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH snowing

Nearest frequency peer: snowing (-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 “snug”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “snug” 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).

snug vs su
50% similar
snug vs sun
50% similar
snug vs sub
50% similar

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

Key facts for snug
PropertyValue
Headwordsnug
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/snʌɡ/
Letters4
Frequency rank#25,585
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “snug”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).snuglands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “snowing” (#25,584), “solstice” (#25,586), “snitch” (#25,583). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “snug” is #25,585. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around snug (IPA /snʌɡ/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #25,585 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for snug, with forms such as "nsug", "sngu", and "snnug". 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, "su", "sun", "sub", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From dialectal English snug (“tight, handsome”), perhaps from Old Norse snøggr, from Proto-Germanic *snawwuz (“short, quick, fast”). Compare Icelandic snöggur (“smooth”), Danish snög (“neat”), Swedish snygg (“handsome, nice-looking”). Compare also English s… The correct English form is snug, spelled S-N-U-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    Warm and comfortable; cosy.
  2. 2
    Satisfactory.
  3. 3
    Close-fitting.
  4. 4
    Close; concealed; not exposed to notice.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. I felt snug tucked up in my snug bed.
  2. Now, if in a stage coach in the depth of winter, when three passengers are warm and snug, a fourth, all besnowed and frozen, descends from the outside and takes place amongst them, straightway all the three passengers shift their places, uneasily pull up their cloak collars, re-arrange their "comforters," feel indignantly a sensible loss of caloric—the in…

Etymology

From dialectal English snug (“tight, handsome”), perhaps from Old Norse snøggr, from Proto-Germanic *snawwuz (“short, quick, fast”). Compare Icelandic snöggur (“smooth”), Danish snög (“neat”), Swedish snygg (“handsome, nice-looking”). Compare also English snudge (“to nestle, remain snug and quiet”).

This word in other languages

cómodo(Español)confortable(Français)wohlig(Deutsch)confortável(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • nsug
  • sngu
  • snnug
  • snugg
  • ssnug

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of snug - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

nsug2sngu2snnug1snugg1ssnug1
Edit distance from "snug"

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 "snug"?
"snug" is spelled S-N-U-G. The IPA pronunciation is /snʌɡ/.
What does "snug" mean?
As an adjective, "snug" means: Warm and comfortable; cosy.
What words are commonly confused with "snug"?
"snug" is commonly confused with "su", "sun", "sub". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "snug"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "snug" is /snʌɡ/. 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 "snug"?
From dialectal English snug (“tight, handsome”), perhaps from Old Norse snøggr, from Proto-Germanic *snawwuz (“short, quick, fast”). Compare Icelandic snöggur (“smooth”), Danish snög (“neat”), Swedish snygg (“handsome, nice-looking”). Compare also... 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 "snug", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

sine#25,577rook#25,558tiki#25,615repo#25,550

Similar misspelling depth

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

tort5 variantsplat5 variantscate5 variantsJodi5 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list