soldier

/ˈsəʊld͡ʒə/

//ˈsəʊld͡ʒə// noun

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

"soldier" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“soldier” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #3,262. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#3,262
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A member of a ground-based army, of any rank, but especially an enlisted member.

Corpus desk

Index EN-soldier · soldier · English

soldier · rank #3,262 · 10 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,262
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH silence

Nearest frequency peer: silence (-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 “soldier”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “soldier” 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).

soldier vs solver
71% similar
soldier vs soldiers
88% similar
soldier vs solder
86% similar

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

Key facts for soldier
PropertyValue
Headwordsoldier
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈsəʊld͡ʒə/
Letters7
Frequency rank#3,262
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “soldier”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).soldierlands 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 “silence” (#3,261), “superior” (#3,263), “shock” (#3,260). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “soldier” is #3,262. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around soldier (IPA /ˈsəʊld͡ʒə/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #3,262 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 14 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for soldier, with forms such as "osldier", "slodier", and "sodlier". 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 3 confusable-pair relationships, "solver", "soldiers", "solder", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English soudeour, from Old French soudier or soudeour (“mercenary”), from Medieval Latin soldarius (“soldier (one having pay)”), from Late Latin solidus, a type of coin. Displaced Old English cempa (whence obsolete kemp). (red herring)… The correct English form is soldier, spelled S-O-L-D-I-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    A member of a ground-based army, of any rank, but especially an enlisted member.
  2. 2
    Any member of a military, regardless of specialty.
  3. 3
    An enlisted member of a military service, as distinguished from a commissioned officer.
  4. 4
    A guardsman.
  5. 5
    A member of the Salvation Army.
  6. 6
    A low-ranking gangster or member of a gang, especially the mafia, who engages in physical conflict.
  7. 7
    A piece of buttered bread (or toast), cut into a long thin strip for dipping into a soft-boiled egg.
  8. 8
    A term of approbation for a young boy.
  9. 9
    Someone who fights or toils well.
  10. 10
    A red or cuckoo gurnard (Chelidonichthys cuculus).
  11. 11
    One of the asexual polymorphic forms of termites, in which the head and jaws are very large and strong. The soldiers serve to defend the nest.
  12. 12
    A red herring (cured kipper with flesh turned red).
  13. 13
    A xiangqi piece that moves and captures by advancing one point. Once it has crossed the river, it may also move and capture one point horizontally.
  14. 14
    A brick, for example in a course of brickwork, that is laid vertically on its shortest end (smallest face), so that its tallest and slimmest face faces the outside of the wall.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. My friends and I saw a soldier questioning a man holding a bag with a gun in his pocket.
  2. The Citizens in their rage, imagining that euery poſt in the Churche had bin one of yᵉ Souldyers, ſhot habbe or nabbe at randon uppe to the Roode lofte, and to the Chancell, leauing ſome of theyr arrowes ſticking in the Images.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English soudeour, from Old French soudier or soudeour (“mercenary”), from Medieval Latin soldarius (“soldier (one having pay)”), from Late Latin solidus, a type of coin. Displaced Old English cempa (whence obsolete kemp). (red herring): An allusion to soldiers' red uniforms; red herring is, reciprocally, a slang term for "soldier".

Synonyms

diggerdogfacedoughboyGIground poundergruntjarheadjawanlobsterOld Billold sweatregularservicemanservicepersonservicewomansoldiersquaddiesweattirailleurTommyTommy Atkinstrooperwarrior

This word in other languages

soldado(Español)soldat(Français)Soldat(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • osldier
  • slodier
  • sodlier
  • solddier
  • soldeir
  • soldierr
  • soldire
  • solider
  • solldier
  • ssoldier

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

osldier2slodier2sodlier2solddier1soldeir2soldierr1soldire2solider2
Edit distance from "soldier"

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 "soldier"?
"soldier" is spelled S-O-L-D-I-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈsəʊld͡ʒə/.
What does "soldier" mean?
As a noun, "soldier" means: A member of a ground-based army, of any rank, but especially an enlisted member.
What words are commonly confused with "soldier"?
"soldier" is commonly confused with "solver", "soldiers", "solder". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "soldier"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "soldier" is /ˈsəʊld͡ʒə/. 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 "soldier"?
Inherited from Middle English soudeour, from Old French soudier or soudeour (“mercenary”), from Medieval Latin soldarius (“soldier (one having pay)”), from Late Latin solidus, a type of coin. Displaced Old English cempa (whence obsolete kemp). (re... 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 "soldier", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

silence#3,261railway#3,255violent#3,269actress#3,273

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

pointed10 variantspackage10 variantsanxiety10 variantscompare10 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list