sough
/saʊ/
"sough" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“sough” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a verb - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 5
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To make a soft rustling or murmuring sound.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | sough |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /saʊ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “sough” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for sough is 5 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /saʊ/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "To make a soft rustling or murmuring sound.".
No misspelling variants are generated for sough in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English *sough, swough, swogh, from Middle English swoȝen, swowen, from Old English swōgan (“to make a sound; move with noise; rush; roar”), from Proto-West Germanic *swōgan, from Proto-Germanic *swōganą from Proto-Indo-European *sweh₂gʰ-, same … The correct English form is sough, spelled S-O-U-G-H.
Definition
- 1To make a soft rustling or murmuring sound.
Etymology
From Middle English *sough, swough, swogh, from Middle English swoȝen, swowen, from Old English swōgan (“to make a sound; move with noise; rush; roar”), from Proto-West Germanic *swōgan, from Proto-Germanic *swōganą from Proto-Indo-European *sweh₂gʰ-, same source as English echo (via Ancient Greek). Cognate with Scots souch (“sough”), Icelandic súgur (“a rushing sound, rustle”). Noun replaced Middle English swei, sweȝ from Old English swēg. More at swoon.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “sough”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-O-U-G-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /saʊ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.