sonar
/ˈsoʊ.nɑːɹ/
"sonar" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“sonar” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #19,702 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #19,702
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Artificial echolocation by use of electronic equipment, with hydrophones to locate objects underwater, using the same wave-analysis principles that radar uses.
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 | sonar |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈsoʊ.nɑːɹ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #19,702 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “sonar” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for sonar is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈsoʊ.nɑːɹ/. Corpus data places it at rank #19,702 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for sonar, with forms such as "osnar", "snoar", and "soanr". 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, "sor", "song", "star", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: By anacronymic evolution from SONAR. The correct English form is sonar, spelled S-O-N-A-R.
Definition
- 1Artificial echolocation by use of electronic equipment, with hydrophones to locate objects underwater, using the same wave-analysis principles that radar uses.
- 2A device that provides such echolocation.
- 3Any echolocation.
Etymology
By anacronymic evolution from SONAR.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: osnar,snoar,soanr,sonarr,sonnar,sonra,ssonar
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of sonar - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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
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Using “sonar”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-O-N-A-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈsoʊ.nɑːɹ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “sor” - see the side-by-side comparison. sonar vs sor
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.