social

/ˈsəʊ.ʃəl/

//ˈsəʊ.ʃəl// adj

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

"social" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“social” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #367. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#367
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
11
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Being extroverted or outgoing.

Corpus desk

Index EN-social · social · English

social · rank #367 · 8 variants · 11 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #367
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 11 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH others

Nearest frequency peer: others (-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 “social”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “social” 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).

social vs soil
67% similar
social vs Sofia
50% similar
social vs socio
67% similar

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

Key facts for social
PropertyValue
Headwordsocial
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈsəʊ.ʃəl/
Letters6
Frequency rank#367
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs11
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “social”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).sociallands 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 “others” (#366), “talk” (#368), “ago” (#365). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “social” is #367. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around social (IPA /ˈsəʊ.ʃəl/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #367 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for social, with forms such as "oscial", "scoial", and "socail". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 11 confusable-pair relationships, "soil", "Sofia", "socio", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle French social, from Latin sociālis (“of or belonging to a companion or companionship or association, social”), from socius (“a companion, fellow, partner, associate, ally”), from sequor (“follow”). Cognate with English seg (“man, companion, fell… The correct English form is social, spelled S-O-C-I-A-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Being extroverted or outgoing.
  2. 2
    Of or relating to society.
  3. 3
    Relating to social media or social networks.
  4. 4
    Relating to a nation's allies.
  5. 5
    Cooperating or growing in groups.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. James is a very social guy; he knows lots of people.
  2. Not ignoring what is good, I am quick to perceive a horror, and could still be social with it—would they let me—since it is but well to be on friendly terms with all the inmates of the place one lodges in.

Etymology

From Middle French social, from Latin sociālis (“of or belonging to a companion or companionship or association, social”), from socius (“a companion, fellow, partner, associate, ally”), from sequor (“follow”). Cognate with English seg (“man, companion, fellow”). More at seg.

Antonyms

antisocialunsocialasocial

This word in other languages

social(Español)social(Français)kontaktfreudig(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • oscial
  • scoial
  • socail
  • soccial
  • sociall
  • socila
  • soical
  • ssocial

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

oscial2scoial2socail2soccial1sociall1socila2soical2ssocial1
Edit distance from "social"

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 "social"?
"social" is spelled S-O-C-I-A-L. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈsəʊ.ʃəl/.
What does "social" mean?
As an adjective, "social" means: Being extroverted or outgoing.
What words are commonly confused with "social"?
"social" is commonly confused with "soil", "Sofia", "socio". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "social"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "social" is /ˈsəʊ.ʃəl/. 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 "social"?
From Middle French social, from Latin sociālis (“of or belonging to a companion or companionship or association, social”), from socius (“a companion, fellow, partner, associate, ally”), from sequor (“follow”). Cognate with English seg (“man, compa... 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 "social", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

others#366thanks#362single#380become#381

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

coming8 variantscourse8 variantsstory8 variantsknown8 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list