spoil

/spɔɪl/

//spɔɪl// verb

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

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

The verdict

“spoil” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #9,543. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#9,543
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To strip (someone who has been killed or defeated) of arms or armour.

Corpus desk

Index EN-spoil · spoil · English

spoil · rank #9,543 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #9,543
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH Southampton

Nearest frequency peer: Southampton (-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 “spoil”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “spoil” 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).

spoil vs spot
60% similar
spoil vs sport
60% similar
spoil vs spoke
60% similar

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

Key facts for spoil
PropertyValue
Headwordspoil
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/spɔɪl/
Letters5
Frequency rank#9,543
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “spoil”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).spoillands 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 “Southampton” (#9,542), “spoiled” (#9,544), “Solomon” (#9,541). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “spoil” is #9,543. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around spoil (IPA /spɔɪl/), averb. Corpus frequency is #9,543 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 11 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for spoil, with forms such as "psoil", "sopil", and "spiol". 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, "spot", "sport", "spoke", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English spoilen, spuylen, borrowed from Old French espoillier, espollier, espuler, from Latin spoliāre (“pillage, ruin, spoil”). The correct English form is spoil, spelled S-P-O-I-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    To strip (someone who has been killed or defeated) of arms or armour.
  2. 2
    To strip or deprive (someone) of possessions; to rob, despoil.
  3. 3
    To plunder, pillage (a city, country etc.).
  4. 4
    To carry off (goods) by force; to steal.
  5. 5
    To ruin; to damage in such a way as to make undesirable or unusable.
  6. 6
    To ruin the character of, by overindulgence; to coddle or pamper to excess.
  7. 7
    To go bad; to become sour or rancid; to decay.
  8. 8
    To render (a ballot) invalid by deliberately defacing.
  9. 9
    To prematurely reveal major events or the ending of (a story etc.); to ruin (a surprise) by exposing ahead of time as a spoiler.
  10. 10
    To reduce the lift generated by an airplane or wing by deflecting air upwards, usually with a spoiler.
  11. 11
    To be very eager (for something).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. All that herde hym wer amased and sayde: ys nott this he that spoylled them whych called on this name in Jerusalem?
  2. To do her dye (quoth Vna) were despight, / And shame t'auenge so weake an enimy; / But spoile her of her scarlot robe, and let her fly.

Etymology

From Middle English spoilen, spuylen, borrowed from Old French espoillier, espollier, espuler, from Latin spoliāre (“pillage, ruin, spoil”).

Synonyms

damagedestroysullyruincoddlepamperindulgemollycoddleball upblightbumblebotchbugger upbunglecontaminatecorruptcrabdepravedisruptdisturbfoilfuck upjack upmarmess upmishandlemommickpolluteput a crimp inqueerscrew upsoilsourspoilstainundoupsetturn upside downupset the applecartvitiate

Antonyms

aidcultivatefosternurturesupportsustainupholdprop uphold upbolster

This word in other languages

expoliar(Español)gâter(Français)plündern(Deutsch)despojar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • psoil
  • sopil
  • spiol
  • spoill
  • spoli
  • sppoil
  • sspoil

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

psoil2sopil2spiol2spoill1spoli2sppoil1sspoil1
Edit distance from "spoil"

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 "spoil"?
"spoil" is spelled S-P-O-I-L. The IPA pronunciation is /spɔɪl/.
What does "spoil" mean?
As a verb, "spoil" means: To strip (someone who has been killed or defeated) of arms or armour.
What words are commonly confused with "spoil"?
"spoil" is commonly confused with "spot", "sport", "spoke". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "spoil"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "spoil" is /spɔɪl/. 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 "spoil"?
From Middle English spoilen, spuylen, borrowed from Old French espoillier, espollier, espuler, from Latin spoliāre (“pillage, ruin, spoil”). 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 "spoil", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Shawn#9,536Venus#9,553sands#9,532Allan#9,561

Similar misspelling depth

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

rotten7 variantsribbon7 variantsaltar7 variantsarrows7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list