spoof
/spuːf/
"spoof" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“spoof” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #25,592 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #25,592
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An act of deception; a hoax; a joking prank.
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 | spoof |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /spuːf/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #25,592 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “spoof” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for spoof is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /spuːf/. Corpus data places it at rank #25,592 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for spoof, with forms such as "psoof", "sopof", and "spof". 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, "spot", "sport", "stood", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Coined by the English comedian Arthur Roberts (1852–1933) in 1884 as the name of a card game involving deception and nonsense. The correct English form is spoof, spelled S-P-O-O-F.
Definition
- 1An act of deception; a hoax; a joking prank.
- 2An act of deception; a hoax; a joking prank.
- 3A light parody.
- 4A drinking game in which players hold up to three (or another specified number of) coins hidden in a fist and attempt to guess the total number of coins held.
- 5Nonsense.
Etymology
Coined by the English comedian Arthur Roberts (1852–1933) in 1884 as the name of a card game involving deception and nonsense.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: psoof,sopof,spof,spofo,spooff,sppoof,sspoof
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of spoof - 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 "spoof"?
What does "spoof" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "spoof"?
How do you pronounce "spoof"?
What is the origin of the word "spoof"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “spoof”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-P-O-O-F - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /spuːf/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “spot” - see the side-by-side comparison. spoof vs spot
- 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.