spare

/spɛə(ɹ)/

//spɛə(ɹ)// adj

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

"spare" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“spare” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #4,490. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#4,490
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

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

Corpus desk

Index EN-spare · spare · English

spare · rank #4,490 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #4,490
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH spaces

Nearest frequency peer: spaces (-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 “spare”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “spare” 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).

spare vs SPR
0% similar
spare vs sure
60% similar
spare vs star
60% similar

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

Key facts for spare
PropertyValue
Headwordspare
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/spɛə(ɹ)/
Letters5
Frequency rank#4,490
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “spare”

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “spaces” (#4,489), “specialist” (#4,491), “slip” (#4,488). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “spare” is #4,490. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around spare (IPA /spɛə(ɹ)/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #4,490 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 8 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for spare, with forms such as "psare", "sapre", and "spaer". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "SPR", "sure", "star", 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 spare, spar, from Old English spær (“sparing, scant”), from Proto-Germanic *sparaz, from Proto-Indo-European *sph₁rós, from the root *speh₁-. Compare Dutch spaar(zaam), German spar(sam) and spär(lich), Swedish spar(sam), Icelandic sparr … The correct English form is spare, spelled S-P-A-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Extra.
  2. 2
    Extra.
  3. 3
    Extra.
  4. 4
    Not plentiful.
  5. 5
    Not plentiful.
  6. 6
    Not plentiful.
  7. 7
    Not plentiful.
  8. 8
    Very angry; frustrated or distraught.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. I have no spare time.
  2. if that no spare cloths he had to give

Etymology

From Middle English spare, spar, from Old English spær (“sparing, scant”), from Proto-Germanic *sparaz, from Proto-Indo-European *sph₁rós, from the root *speh₁-. Compare Dutch spaar(zaam), German spar(sam) and spär(lich), Swedish spar(sam), Icelandic sparr (“sparing”); also Latin (pro)sperus (“lucky”), Old Church Slavonic споръ (sporŭ, “plentiful”), Albanian shperr (“earn money”), Persian سپار (sepâr, “entrust; deposit”), Ancient Greek σπαρνός (sparnós, “rare”), Sanskrit स्फिर (sphirá, “thick”).

This word in other languages

frugal(Español)rechange(Français)überschüssig(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • psare
  • sapre
  • spaer
  • sparre
  • sppare
  • sprae
  • sspare

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of spare - 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.

psare2sapre2spaer2sparre1sppare1sprae2sspare1
Edit distance from "spare"

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 "spare"?
"spare" is spelled S-P-A-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is /spɛə(ɹ)/.
What does "spare" mean?
As an adjective, "spare" means: Extra.
What words are commonly confused with "spare"?
"spare" is commonly confused with "SPR", "sure", "star". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "spare"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "spare" is /spɛə(ɹ)/. 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 "spare"?
From Middle English spare, spar, from Old English spær (“sparing, scant”), from Proto-Germanic *sparaz, from Proto-Indo-European *sph₁rós, from the root *speh₁-. Compare Dutch spaar(zaam), German spar(sam) and spär(lich), Swedish spar(sam), Icelan... 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 "spare", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

seeds#4,486bonds#4,507chaos#4,509Moore#4,468

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

copper7 variantscorps7 variantshoped7 variantsglobe7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list