sorcery
/ˈsɔɹ.sə.ɹi/
"sorcery" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“sorcery” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #24,317 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #24,317
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 5
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Magical power; the use of witchcraft or magic arts.
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 | sorcery |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈsɔɹ.sə.ɹi/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #24,317 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 5 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “sorcery” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for sorcery is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈsɔɹ.sə.ɹi/. Corpus data places it at rank #24,317 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for sorcery, with forms such as "osrcery", "socrery", and "sorccery". 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 5 confusable-pair relationships, "sorry", "sorely", "surgery", 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 sorcery, borrowed from Middle French sorcerie, ultimately derived from Latin sors (“fate”), from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to bind”). Cognate with serō, seriēs, sermō. Compare also French sorcier. The correct English form is sorcery, spelled S-O-R-C-E-R-Y.
Definition
- 1Magical power; the use of witchcraft or magic arts.
- 2Black magic.
Etymology
From Middle English sorcery, borrowed from Middle French sorcerie, ultimately derived from Latin sors (“fate”), from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to bind”). Cognate with serō, seriēs, sermō. Compare also French sorcier.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: osrcery,socrery,sorccery,sorcerry,sorceryy,sorceyr,sorcrey,sorecry,sorrcery,srocery,ssorcery
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of sorcery - 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 “sorcery”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-O-R-C-E-R-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈsɔɹ.sə.ɹi/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “sorry” - see the side-by-side comparison. sorcery vs sorry
- 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.