sourness

noun

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

"sourness" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“sourness” is uncommon English (frequency #89,927 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#89,927
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The condition or quality of being sour.

Corpus desk

Index EN-sourness · sourness · English

sourness · rank #89,927 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #89,927
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH southwestward

Nearest frequency peer: southwestward (+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 “sourness”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for sourness
PropertyValue
Headwordsourness
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters8
Frequency rank#89,927
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “sourness” in English

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).sournessfalls in this rarity band:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “southwestward” (#89,928), “spectrophotometer” (#89,930), “speculatively” (#89,931). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “sourness” is #89,927. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

sourness is uncommon English at frequency #89,927 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The condition or quality of being sour.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for sourness in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English sowrenesse, sournesse, from Old English sūrnes (“sourness”), equivalent to sour + -ness. The correct English form is sourness, spelled S-O-U-R-N-E-S-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    The condition or quality of being sour.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. [O]ur Tympanouſe ſtatiſts / (In their affected grauitie of voice, / Sovverneſſe of countenance, maners crueltie, / Authoritie, vvealth, and all the ſpavvne of Fortune) / Thinke they beare all the kingdomes vvorth before them; […]
  2. Mrs. Ferrars was a little, thin woman, upright, even to formality, in her figure, and serious, even to sourness, in her aspect.

Etymology

From Middle English sowrenesse, sournesse, from Old English sūrnes (“sourness”), equivalent to sour + -ness.

Synonyms

acerbitudeacerbityacetosityacidityacidnessausterenessausteritysharpnesssournesstartness

Antonyms

sweetness

This word in other languages

acedía(Español)

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 "sourness"?
"sourness" is spelled S-O-U-R-N-E-S-S.
What does "sourness" mean?
As a noun, "sourness" means: The condition or quality of being sour.
What is the origin of the word "sourness"?
From Middle English sowrenesse, sournesse, from Old English sūrnes (“sourness”), equivalent to sour + -ness. 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 "sourness", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

stabling#89,938stakeout#89,940Shoshana#89,903suborder#89,953

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list