soothe

/suːð/

//suːð// verb

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

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

The verdict

“soothe” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #23,109 in English word frequency and used as a verb.

#23,109
frequency rank, English
6
letters
8
tracked misspellings
10
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To restore to ease, comfort, or tranquility; relieve; calm; quiet; refresh.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

soothe vs south
67% similar
soothe vs sortie
67% similar
soothe vs soot
67% similar

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

Key facts for soothe
PropertyValue
Headwordsoothe
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/suːð/
Letters6
Frequency rank#23,109
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs10
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “soothe” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). soothe lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for soothe is 6 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /suːð/. Corpus data places it at rank #23,109 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 11 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for soothe, with forms such as "osothe", "soohte", and "sooteh". 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 10 confusable-pair relationships, "south", "sortie", "soot", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English sothen (“to verify, prove the validity of”), from Old English sōþian (“to verify, prove, confirm, bear witness to”), from Proto-West Germanic *sanþōn, from Proto-Germanic *sanþōną (“to prove, certify, acknowledge, testify”), from Proto-I… The correct English form is soothe, spelled S-O-O-T-H-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    To restore to ease, comfort, or tranquility; relieve; calm; quiet; refresh.
  2. 2
    To allay; assuage; mitigate; soften.
  3. 3
    To smooth over; render less obnoxious.
  4. 4
    To calm or placate someone or some situation.
  5. 5
    To ease or relieve pain or suffering.
  6. 6
    To temporise by assent, concession, flattery, or cajolery.
  7. 7
    To bring comfort or relief.
  8. 8
    To keep in good humour; wheedle; cajole; flatter.
  9. 9
    To prove true; verify; confirm as true.
  10. 10
    To confirm the statements of; maintain the truthfulness of (a person); bear out.
  11. 11
    To assent to; yield to; humour by agreement or concession.

Etymology

From Middle English sothen (“to verify, prove the validity of”), from Old English sōþian (“to verify, prove, confirm, bear witness to”), from Proto-West Germanic *sanþōn, from Proto-Germanic *sanþōną (“to prove, certify, acknowledge, testify”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- (“to be”). Cognate with Danish sande (“to verify”), Swedish sanna (“to verify”), Icelandic sanna (“to verify”). See also sooth. Displaced native Old English frēfran, ġefrēfran (“to comfort, console, soothe”), and partially displaced native Old English stillan, ġestillan (“to calm, become calm, pacify, quieten”) (whence modern still). The semantic evolution of "to verify, prove the validity of" → "to comfort" (first attested in the late 17th century) comes from the notion of assuaging someone by supporting the truth of what they say.

This word in other languages

calmar(Español)apaiser(Français)beruhigen(Deutsch)acalmar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: osothe,soohte,sooteh,soothhe,sootthe,sothe,sotohe,ssoothe

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of soothe - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

osothe2soohte2sooteh2soothhe1sootthe1sothe1sotohe2ssoothe1
Edit distance from "soothe"

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 "soothe"?
"soothe" is spelled S-O-O-T-H-E. The IPA pronunciation is /suːð/.
What does "soothe" mean?
As a verb, "soothe" means: To restore to ease, comfort, or tranquility; relieve; calm; quiet; refresh.
What words are commonly confused with "soothe"?
"soothe" is commonly confused with "south", "sortie", "soot". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "soothe"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "soothe" is /suːð/. 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 "soothe"?
From Middle English sothen (“to verify, prove the validity of”), from Old English sōþian (“to verify, prove, confirm, bear witness to”), from Proto-West Germanic *sanþōn, from Proto-Germanic *sanþōną (“to prove, certify, acknowledge, testify”), fr... 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.

Using “soothe”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is S-O-O-T-H-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /suːð/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “south” - see the side-by-side comparison. soothe vs south
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list