sorrow

/ˈsɒɹ.əʊ/

//ˈsɒɹ.əʊ// noun

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

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

The verdict

“sorrow” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #10,772. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#10,772
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
5
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - unhappiness, woe

Corpus desk

Index EN-sorrow · sorrow · English

sorrow · rank #10,772 · 7 variants · 5 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #10,772
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 5 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH solitary

Nearest frequency peer: solitary (-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 “sorrow”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “sorrow” 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).

sorrow vs sorry
67% similar
sorrow vs sparrow
71% similar
sorrow vs sorrows
86% similar

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

Key facts for sorrow
PropertyValue
Headwordsorrow
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈsɒɹ.əʊ/
Letters6
Frequency rank#10,772
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs5
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “sorrow”

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).sorrowlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “solitary” (#10,771), “sniper” (#10,770), “shrink” (#10,769). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “sorrow” is #10,772. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around sorrow (IPA /ˈsɒɹ.əʊ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #10,772 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for sorrow, with forms such as "osrrow", "sororw", and "sorow". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 5 confusable-pair relationships, "sorry", "sparrow", "sorrows", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English sorwe, sorow, sorewe, from Old English sorg, sorh (“care, anxiety, sorrow, grief”), from Proto-West Germanic *sorgu, from Proto-Germanic *surgō (compare West Frisian soarch, Dutch zorg, German Sorge, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian sorg), … The correct English form is sorrow, spelled S-O-R-R-O-W.

Definition

  1. 1
    unhappiness, woe
  2. 2
    (usually in plural) An instance or cause of unhappiness.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. But sorrow that is couch'd in seeming gladness Is like that mirth fate turns to sudden sadness.
  2. The safe and general antidote against sorrow is employment.

Etymology

From Middle English sorwe, sorow, sorewe, from Old English sorg, sorh (“care, anxiety, sorrow, grief”), from Proto-West Germanic *sorgu, from Proto-Germanic *surgō (compare West Frisian soarch, Dutch zorg, German Sorge, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian sorg), from Proto-Indo-European *swergʰ- (“watch over, worry; be ill, suffer”) (compare Old Irish serg (“sickness”), Tocharian B sark (“sickness”), Lithuanian sirgti (“be sick”), Sanskrit सूर्क्षति (sū́rkṣati, “worry”). Despite the similarity in form and meaning, not historically related to sorry and sore.

This word in other languages

pesar(Español)peine(Français)Kummer(Deutsch)tristeza(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • osrrow
  • sororw
  • sorow
  • sorroww
  • sorrwo
  • srorow
  • ssorrow

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

osrrow2sororw2sorow1sorroww1sorrwo2srorow2ssorrow1
Edit distance from "sorrow"

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 "sorrow"?
"sorrow" is spelled S-O-R-R-O-W. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈsɒɹ.əʊ/.
What does "sorrow" mean?
As a noun, "sorrow" means: unhappiness, woe
What words are commonly confused with "sorrow"?
"sorrow" is commonly confused with "sorry", "sparrow", "sorrows". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "sorrow"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sorrow" is /ˈsɒɹ.əʊ/. 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 "sorrow"?
From Middle English sorwe, sorow, sorewe, from Old English sorg, sorh (“care, anxiety, sorrow, grief”), from Proto-West Germanic *sorgu, from Proto-Germanic *surgō (compare West Frisian soarch, Dutch zorg, German Sorge, Danish, Swedish and Norwegi... 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 "sorrow", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

sniper#10,770shrink#10,769shrine#10,768Sutton#10,776

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

stoke7 variantstaller7 variantssaddle7 variantsrumor7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list