sour

/ˈsaʊə/

//ˈsaʊə// adj

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

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

The verdict

“sour” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #8,610. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#8,610
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Tasting of acidity.

Corpus desk

Index EN-sour · sour · English

sour · rank #8,610 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #8,610
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH spoon

Nearest frequency peer: spoon (+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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “sour”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “sour” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

sour vs su
50% similar
sour vs sun
50% similar
sour vs sub
50% similar

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

Key facts for sour
PropertyValue
Headwordsour
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈsaʊə/
Letters4
Frequency rank#8,610
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “sour” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).sourlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “spoon” (#8,611), “socialism” (#8,608), “stressful” (#8,612). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around sour (IPA /ˈsaʊə/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #8,610 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 8 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for sour, with forms such as "osur", "soru", and "sourr". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "su", "sun", "sub", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English sour, from Old English sūr (“sour”), from Proto-West Germanic *sūr, from Proto-Germanic *sūraz (“sour”), from Proto-Indo-European *súHros (“sour”). Cognate with West Frisian soer, Dutch zuur (“sour”), Low German suur, German sauer (“sour… The correct English form is sour, spelled S-O-U-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Tasting of acidity.
  2. 2
    Made rancid by fermentation, etc.
  3. 3
    Tasting or smelling rancid.
  4. 4
    Hostile or unfriendly.
  5. 5
    Excessively acidic and thus infertile. (of soil)
  6. 6
    Containing excess sulfur. (of petroleum)
  7. 7
    Unfortunate or unfavorable.
  8. 8
    Off-pitch, out of tune.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Lemons have a sour taste.
  2. All sour things, as vinegar, provoke appetite.

Etymology

From Middle English sour, from Old English sūr (“sour”), from Proto-West Germanic *sūr, from Proto-Germanic *sūraz (“sour”), from Proto-Indo-European *súHros (“sour”). Cognate with West Frisian soer, Dutch zuur (“sour”), Low German suur, German sauer (“sour”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian sur, French sur (“sour”), Faroese súrur (“sour”), Icelandic súr (“sour, bitter”), Polish ser (“cheese”), Czech sýr (“cheese”), Slovak syr (“cheese”), Russian сырой (syroj, “raw”), Ukrainian сири́й (syrýj, “raw”), Old Church Slavonic сꙑръ (syrŭ, “moist, cheese”).

Synonyms

acetoseacetousacidacidulentsourtart

Antonyms

sweet

This word in other languages

agrio(Español)aigre(Français)sauer(Deutsch)azedo(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • osur
  • soru
  • sourr
  • ssour
  • suor

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of sour - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

osur2soru2sourr1ssour1suor2
Edit distance from "sour"

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 "sour"?
"sour" is spelled S-O-U-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈsaʊə/.
What does "sour" mean?
As an adjective, "sour" means: Tasting of acidity.
What words are commonly confused with "sour"?
"sour" is commonly confused with "su", "sun", "sub". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "sour"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sour" is /ˈsaʊə/. 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 "sour"?
From Middle English sour, from Old English sūr (“sour”), from Proto-West Germanic *sūr, from Proto-Germanic *sūraz (“sour”), from Proto-Indo-European *súHros (“sour”). Cognate with West Frisian soer, Dutch zuur (“sour”), Low German suur, German sa... 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 "sour", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Yale#8,629node#8,583beth#8,638Nike#8,582

Similar misspelling depth

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

alley5 variantsholly5 variantshaul5 variantsglen5 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "sour". Here's where to go from here.

  • "sour" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "su". View pair
  • 5 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #8,610 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "S" letter cohort. S–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list