soup

/suːp/

//suːp// noun

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

"soup" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“soup” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,629. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,629
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any of various dishes commonly made by combining liquids, such as water or stock, with other ingredients, such as meat and vegetables, that contribute the food value, flavor, and texture.

Corpus desk

Index EN-soup · soup · English

soup · rank #5,629 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,629
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH smiling

Nearest frequency peer: smiling (-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 “soup”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “soup” 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).

soup vs SP
0% similar
soup vs su
50% similar
soup vs sun
50% similar

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

Key facts for soup
PropertyValue
Headwordsoup
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/suːp/
Letters4
Frequency rank#5,629
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “soup”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).souplands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “smiling” (#5,628), “southeast” (#5,630), “sends” (#5,627). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “soup” is #5,629. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around soup (IPA /suːp/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #5,629 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 12 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for soup, with forms such as "osup", "sopu", and "soupp". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "SP", "su", "sun", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: The noun is from Middle English soupe, sowpe, from Old French soupe, souppe, sope, from Late Latin suppa (“sopped bread”), from Proto-Germanic *supô (compare Middle Dutch sope (“broth”)). Doublet of sop and zuppa. See also sup and supper. The verb is from t… The correct English form is soup, spelled S-O-U-P.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any of various dishes commonly made by combining liquids, such as water or stock, with other ingredients, such as meat and vegetables, that contribute the food value, flavor, and texture.
  2. 2
    Any of various dishes commonly made by combining liquids, such as water or stock, with other ingredients, such as meat and vegetables, that contribute the food value, flavor, and texture.
  3. 3
    Any of various dishes commonly made by combining liquids, such as water or stock, with other ingredients, such as meat and vegetables, that contribute the food value, flavor, and texture.
  4. 4
    Any mixture or substance suggestive of soup consistency.
  5. 5
    Any mixture or substance suggestive of soup consistency.
  6. 6
    Any mixture or substance suggestive of soup consistency.
  7. 7
    Any mixture or substance suggestive of soup consistency.
  8. 8
    Any mixture or substance suggestive of soup consistency.
  9. 9
    Any mixture or substance suggestive of soup consistency.
  10. 10
    Any mixture or substance suggestive of soup consistency.
  11. 11
    Any mixture or substance suggestive of soup consistency.
  12. 12
    Any mixture or substance suggestive of soup consistency.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Pho is a traditional Vietnamese soup.
  2. Soupes dorye. — Take gode almaunde mylke […] caste þher-to Safroun an Salt […]

Etymology

The noun is from Middle English soupe, sowpe, from Old French soupe, souppe, sope, from Late Latin suppa (“sopped bread”), from Proto-Germanic *supô (compare Middle Dutch sope (“broth”)). Doublet of sop and zuppa. See also sup and supper. The verb is from the noun.

This word in other languages

sopa(Español)potage(Français)Suppe(Deutsch)sopa(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • osup
  • sopu
  • soupp
  • ssoup
  • suop

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

osup2sopu2soupp1ssoup1suop2
Edit distance from "soup"

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 "soup"?
"soup" is spelled S-O-U-P. The IPA pronunciation is /suːp/.
What does "soup" mean?
As a noun, "soup" means: Any of various dishes commonly made by combining liquids, such as water or stock, with other ingredients, such as meat and vegetables, that contribute the food value, flavor, and texture.
What words are commonly confused with "soup"?
"soup" is commonly confused with "SP", "su", "sun". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "soup"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "soup" is /suːp/. 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 "soup"?
The noun is from Middle English soupe, sowpe, from Old French soupe, souppe, sope, from Late Latin suppa (“sopped bread”), from Proto-Germanic *supô (compare Middle Dutch sope (“broth”)). Doublet of sop and zuppa. See also sup and supper. The verb... 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 "soup", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

beam#5,659crop#5,591caps#5,580horn#5,689

Similar misspelling depth

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

thou5 variantspile5 variantsours5 variantsMaine5 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list