sorrel
/ˈsɒɹəl/
"sorrel" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“sorrel” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #48,497 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #48,497
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 10
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any of various plants with acidic leaves of the genus Rumex, especially
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 | sorrel |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈsɒɹəl/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #48,497 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 10 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “sorrel” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for sorrel is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈsɒɹəl/. Corpus data places it at rank #48,497 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 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 sorrel, with forms such as "osrrel", "sorel", and "sorerl". 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, "sorry", "sorted", "Surrey", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English sorel, from Old French sorel, surele (“sorrel”), from Old French sur (“sour”), of Germanic origin, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *sūraz (“sour”); equivalent to sour + -el (diminutive suffix). Compare Old English sūre (“sorrel”), Iceland… The correct English form is sorrel, spelled S-O-R-R-E-L.
Definition
- 1Any of various plants with acidic leaves of the genus Rumex, especially
- 2Any of various plants with acidic leaves of the genus Rumex, especially
- 3Members of genus Oxalis or family Oxalidaceae, woodsorrels.
- 4The roselle, Hibiscus sabdariffa.
- 5The roselle, Hibiscus sabdariffa.
Etymology
From Middle English sorel, from Old French sorel, surele (“sorrel”), from Old French sur (“sour”), of Germanic origin, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *sūraz (“sour”); equivalent to sour + -el (diminutive suffix). Compare Old English sūre (“sorrel”), Icelandic súra (“sorrel”), Dutch zuring (“dock (plant), sorrel”). More at sour.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: osrrel,sorel,sorerl,sorrell,sorrle,srorel,ssorrel
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of sorrel - 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 “sorrel”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-O-R-R-E-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈsɒɹəl/ (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. sorrel 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.