solitaire

/ˈsɒl.ɪˌtɛə(ɹ)/

//ˈsɒl.ɪˌtɛə(ɹ)// noun

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

"solitaire" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“solitaire” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #28,733. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#28,733
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A person who lives alone; a recluse or hermit.

Corpus desk

Index EN-solitaire · solitaire · English

solitaire · rank #28,733 · 12 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-MID #28,733
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH snowboard

Nearest frequency peer: snowboard (-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 “solitaire”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “solitaire” 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).

solitaire vs solitary
78% similar

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

Key facts for solitaire
PropertyValue
Headwordsolitaire
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈsɒl.ɪˌtɛə(ɹ)/
Letters9
Frequency rank#28,733
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “solitaire”

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).solitairelands 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 “snowboard” (#28,732), “snort” (#28,731), “sparing” (#28,735). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “solitaire” is #28,733. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around solitaire (IPA /ˈsɒl.ɪˌtɛə(ɹ)/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #28,733 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 8 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for solitaire, with forms such as "oslitaire", "sloitaire", and "soiltaire". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "solitary", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French solitaire, ultimately from Latin sōlitārius. Doublet of solitary. The correct English form is solitaire, spelled S-O-L-I-T-A-I-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A person who lives alone; a recluse or hermit.
  2. 2
    A game for one person, played on a board with pegs or balls, in which the object is, beginning with all the places filled except one, to remove all but one of the pieces by "jumping", as in draughts.
  3. 3
    Any of various card games that can be played by one person.
  4. 4
    Ellipsis of Rodrigues solitaire (Pezophaps solitaria), an extinct bird related to the dodo.
  5. 5
    Ellipsis of Réunion solitaire (Raphus solitarius, now Threskiornis solitarius), an extinct bird formerly believed to be related to the dodo.
  6. 6
    One of several American species of bird in the genus Myadestes in the thrush family.
  7. 7
    A single gem, usually a diamond, mounted in a piece of jewellery by itself.
  8. 8
    A black neck ribbon worn with a bag wig in the 18th century.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. 1722-1723, Alexander Pope, letter to a lady […] he really wishes he had never beheld you, nor yours. You have spoiled him for a solitaire, and a book, all the days of his life; and put him into such a condition, that he thinks of nothing, and enquires of nothing but after a person who has nothing to say to him, and has left him for ever […]
  2. The early French solitaire boards were marked with thirty-seven holes instead of the modern board's thirty-three; and the problems were more difficult.

Etymology

Borrowed from French solitaire, ultimately from Latin sōlitārius. Doublet of solitary.

This word in other languages

Senku(Español)Solitaire(Français)Solitär(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • oslitaire
  • sloitaire
  • soiltaire
  • soliatire
  • solitaier
  • solitairre
  • solitarie
  • solitiare
  • solittaire
  • sollitaire
  • soltiaire
  • ssolitaire

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

oslitaire2sloitaire2soiltaire2soliatire2solitaier2solitairre1solitarie2solitiare2
Edit distance from "solitaire"

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 "solitaire"?
"solitaire" is spelled S-O-L-I-T-A-I-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈsɒl.ɪˌtɛə(ɹ)/.
What does "solitaire" mean?
As a noun, "solitaire" means: A person who lives alone; a recluse or hermit.
What words are commonly confused with "solitaire"?
"solitaire" is commonly confused with "solitary". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "solitaire"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "solitaire" is /ˈsɒl.ɪˌtɛə(ɹ)/. 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 "solitaire"?
Borrowed from French solitaire, ultimately from Latin sōlitārius. Doublet of solitary. 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 "solitaire", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

snowboard#28,732sprinting#28,739sketching#28,724sweetened#28,746

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

swimwear12 variantstaunting12 variantsresistor12 variantswanderer12 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list