spray

/spɹeɪ/

//spɹeɪ// noun

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

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

The verdict

“spray” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,368. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,368
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A fine, gentle, dispersed mist of liquid.

Corpus desk

Index EN-spray · spray · English

spray · rank #5,368 · 8 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,368
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH soap

Nearest frequency peer: soap (-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 “spray”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “spray” 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).

spray vs spy
60% similar
spray vs sry
60% similar
spray vs stay
60% similar

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

Key facts for spray
PropertyValue
Headwordspray
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/spɹeɪ/
Letters5
Frequency rank#5,368
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “spray”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).spraylands 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 “soap” (#5,367), “slept” (#5,366), “stressed” (#5,370). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “spray” is #5,368. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around spray (IPA /spɹeɪ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #5,368 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 9 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for spray, with forms such as "psray", "spary", and "sppray". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "spy", "sry", "stay", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle Dutch sprāien, sprayen, spraeyen (“to spray, sprinkle, spread”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *sprēwijaną (“to spray, sprinkle”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- (“to sow, scatter”). Cognate with Middle High German spræjen, spræwen (“to squi… The correct English form is spray, spelled S-P-R-A-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    A fine, gentle, dispersed mist of liquid.
  2. 2
    Something resembling a spray of liquid.
  3. 3
    A pressurized container; an atomizer.
  4. 4
    Any of numerous commercial products, including paints, cosmetics, and insecticides, that are dispensed from containers in this manner.
  5. 5
    A jet of fine medicated vapour, used either as an application to a diseased part or to charge the air of a room with a disinfectant or a deodorizer.
  6. 6
    A side channel or branch of the runner of a flask, made to distribute the metal to all parts of the mold.
  7. 7
    A group of castings made in the same mold and connected by sprues formed in the runner and its branches.
  8. 8
    The allocation and filling of blocks of memory with the same byte sequence, hoping to establish that sequence in a certain predetermined location as part of an exploit.
  9. 9
    A loud scolding or reprimand, usually delivered by a sports coach or similar figure.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The sailor could feel the spray from the waves.
  2. A strong sirocco was blowing the spray from the waves as far as the little café, whose glass doors were shut. The café reeked of brewing sage and human beings whose breath steamed the windows because of the cold outside.

Etymology

From Middle Dutch sprāien, sprayen, spraeyen (“to spray, sprinkle, spread”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *sprēwijaną (“to spray, sprinkle”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- (“to sow, scatter”). Cognate with Middle High German spræjen, spræwen (“to squirt, spray, dust, splash, straw”), Danish dialectal språe (“to open up, burst forth”), Swedish dialectal språ (“to sprout, shoot forth, burst”), Norwegian dialectal spra, spræ (“to splash, splatter, spout, burst forth”), Dutch sproeien (“to spray, sprinkle”), German sprühen (“to spray, sparkle”).

This word in other languages

spray(Español)embrun(Français)Spray(Deutsch)borrifo(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • psray
  • spary
  • sppray
  • sprayy
  • sprray
  • sprya
  • srpay
  • sspray

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

psray2spary2sppray1sprayy1sprray1sprya2srpay2sspray1
Edit distance from "spray"

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 "spray"?
"spray" is spelled S-P-R-A-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /spɹeɪ/.
What does "spray" mean?
As a noun, "spray" means: A fine, gentle, dispersed mist of liquid.
What words are commonly confused with "spray"?
"spray" is commonly confused with "spy", "sry", "stay". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "spray"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "spray" is /spɹeɪ/. 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 "spray"?
From Middle Dutch sprāien, sprayen, spraeyen (“to spray, sprinkle, spread”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *sprēwijaną (“to spray, sprinkle”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- (“to sow, scatter”). Cognate with Middle High German spræjen, spræwen... 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 "spray", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

slept#5,366sizes#5,365suite#5,372she'd#5,360

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

sadly8 variantschuck8 variantscinema8 variantsgrows8 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list