sober
/ˈsəʊ.bə(ɹ)/
"sober" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“sober” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #7,850. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #7,850
- frequency rank, English
- 6,566
- “S” headwords
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - Not drunk; not intoxicated.
Corpus desk
Index EN-sober · sober · English
sober · rank #7,850 · 7 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #7,850
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 7 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 6,566
- PHOTO-FINISH simulation
Nearest frequency peer: simulation (-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 neighbourhood for “sober”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- sided
sided
92,153 corpus weight
- simulation
simulation
92,152 corpus weight
- sober
sober
92,151 corpus weight
- spice
spice
92,150 corpus weight
- squeeze
squeeze
92,149 corpus weight
- storms
storms
92,148 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “sober” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | sober |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈsəʊ.bə(ɹ)/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #7,850 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “sober” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 7 spelling variants around sober (IPA /ˈsəʊ.bə(ɹ)/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #7,850 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for sober, with forms such as "osber", "sboer", and "sobber". 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, "soe", "sor", "some", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English sober, from Old French sobre, from Latin sōbrius, from se- (“without”) + ebrius (“intoxicated”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁egʷʰ- (“drink”). In the sense "not drunk," displaced native undrunken, from Old English undruncen. The correct English form is sober, spelled S-O-B-E-R.
Definition
- 1Not drunk; not intoxicated.
- 2Not under the influence of any recreational drug.
- 3Not given to excessive drinking of alcohol.
- 4Moderate; realistic; serious; not playful; not passionate; cool; self-controlled.
- 5Dull; not bright or colorful.
- 6Subdued; solemn; grave.
- 7Poor; feeble.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how sober appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Ten months sober, I must admit Just because you're clean, don't mean you don't miss it
Amid all the confusion and disorder that sin has introduced into the world, the Christian in union with God has a grace or Divine help that enables him to live the sober, self-restrained life.
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English sober, from Old French sobre, from Latin sōbrius, from se- (“without”) + ebrius (“intoxicated”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁egʷʰ- (“drink”). In the sense "not drunk," displaced native undrunken, from Old English undruncen.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- osber
- sboer
- sobber
- soberr
- sobre
- soebr
- ssober
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of sober - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "sober", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).
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.