SOB

/ˌɛs oʊ ˈbi/

//ˌɛs oʊ ˈbi// noun

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

"sob" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“SOB” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #20,503) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#20,503
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Initialism of son of a bitch.

Corpus desk

Index EN-sob · SOB · English

SOB · rank #20,503 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #20,503
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH snuck

Nearest frequency peer: snuck (-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.

Frequency neighbours of confusable “SOB”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “SOB” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

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).

SOB vs SS
33% similar
SOB vs SP
33% similar
SOB vs su
0% similar

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

Key facts for SOB
PropertyValue
HeadwordSOB
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˌɛs oʊ ˈbi/
Letters3
Frequency rank#20,503
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “SOB” sits in English frequency

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).SOBlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “snuck” (#20,502), “Socrates” (#20,504), “snag” (#20,501). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for SOB is neighbouring look-alikes ("SS", "SP", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /ˌɛs oʊ ˈbi/. Frequency #20,503 among 6,566 “S” headwords. 7 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

No generated misspelling entries exist for SOB in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "SS", "SP", "su", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct English form is SOB, spelled S-O-B.

Definition

  1. 1
    Initialism of son of a bitch.
  2. 2
    Initialism of shortness of breath.
  3. 3
    Initialism of souls on board.
  4. 4
    Initialism of sum of best.
  5. 5
    Initialism of start of business.
  6. 6
    Initialism of share of business.
  7. 7
    Initialism of seal on a bedsheet, used humorously to recall the first sense

This word in other languages

fdp(Français)fdp(Português)

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 "SOB"?
"SOB" is spelled S-O-B. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌɛs oʊ ˈbi/.
What does "SOB" mean?
As a noun, "SOB" means: Initialism of son of a bitch.
What words are commonly confused with "SOB"?
"SOB" is commonly confused with "SS", "SP", "su". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "SOB"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "SOB" is /ˌɛs oʊ ˈbi/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "SOB" come from?
"SOB" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 "SOB", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

STR#20,507sig#20,497ses#20,491sai#20,482

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list