spank
/ˈspæŋk/
"spank" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“spank” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #26,258 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #26,258
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To beat, smack or slap a person's buttocks, with the bare hand or other object, as punishment, or for sexual gratification.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | spank |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈspæŋk/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #26,258 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “spank” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for spank is 5 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈspæŋk/. Corpus data places it at rank #26,258 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for spank, with forms such as "psank", "sapnk", and "spakn". 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, "spin", "stan", "swan", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Uncertain. Possibly imitative, or perhaps a special use of Etymology 2 (below) in the sense of a horse stamping its foot against the ground. There is no evidence of a relation with Portuguese espancar (“to batter, strike”). The correct English form is spank, spelled S-P-A-N-K.
Definition
- 1To beat, smack or slap a person's buttocks, with the bare hand or other object, as punishment, or for sexual gratification.
- 2To soundly defeat, to trounce.
- 3To hit very hard.
Etymology
Uncertain. Possibly imitative, or perhaps a special use of Etymology 2 (below) in the sense of a horse stamping its foot against the ground. There is no evidence of a relation with Portuguese espancar (“to batter, strike”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: psank,sapnk,spakn,spankk,spannk,spnak,sppank,sspank
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of spank - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "spank"?
What does "spank" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "spank"?
How do you pronounce "spank"?
What is the origin of the word "spank"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “spank”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-P-A-N-K - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈspæŋk/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “spin” - see the side-by-side comparison. spank vs spin
- 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.