sounder

/ˈsaʊndɚ/

//ˈsaʊndɚ// adj

"sounder" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“sounder” is uncommon English (frequency #55,754 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#55,754
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - comparative form of sound: more sound

Corpus desk

Index EN-sounder · sounder · English

sounder · rank #55,754 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #55,754
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH soph

Nearest frequency peer: soph (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “sounder”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “sounder” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for sounder
PropertyValue
Headwordsounder
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈsaʊndɚ/
Letters7
Frequency rank#55,754
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “sounder” in English

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).sounderfalls in this rarity band:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “soph” (#55,753), “spaceman” (#55,755), “spearman” (#55,757). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “sounder” is #55,754. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

sounder is uncommon English at frequency #55,754 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈsaʊndɚ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "comparative form of sound: more sound".

No misspelling variants are generated for sounder in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English *soundere, from Old English ġesundra, from Proto-Germanic *sundizô, equivalent to sound + -er (comparative suffix). The correct English form is sounder, spelled S-O-U-N-D-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    comparative form of sound: more sound

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. The Northern Division Traffic Manager has said that there is no present intention of terminating the service, but the hopes previously entertained of expanding it cannot be entertained until it is operating on a sounder economic basis.

Etymology

From Middle English *soundere, from Old English ġesundra, from Proto-Germanic *sundizô, equivalent to sound + -er (comparative suffix).

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 "sounder"?
"sounder" is spelled S-O-U-N-D-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈsaʊndɚ/.
What does "sounder" mean?
As an adjective, "sounder" means: comparative form of sound: more sound
How do you pronounce "sounder"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sounder" is /ˈsaʊndɚ/. 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 "sounder"?
From Middle English *soundere, from Old English ġesundra, from Proto-Germanic *sundizô, equivalent to sound + -er (comparative suffix). 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 "sounder", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list