# spree

> English word · Noun · IPA /spɹiː/ · frequency rank #13,812

## Definitions
1. Uninhibited activity.
2. A merry frolic; especially, a drinking frolic.

## Etymology
Unknown. According to Douglas Harper’s Online Etymological Dictionary, “a word of uncertain origin. Perhaps [Barnhart] an alteration of French esprit (“lively wit”) (see esprit). According to Klein, Irish spré seems to be a loan-word from Old Norse sprakr. Watkins proposes a possible origin as an alteration of Scots spreath (“cattle raid”), from Gaelic sprédh, spré (“cattle; wealth”), from Middle Irish preit, preid (“booty”), ultimately from Latin praeda (“plunder, booty”)”.

## Easily confused with
- **sure** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spree-vs-sure)
- **surge** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spree-vs-surge)
- **strep** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spree-vs-strep)
- **street** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spree-vs-street)
- **spruce** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spree-vs-spruce)
- **sprite** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spree-vs-sprite)
- **Streep** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spree-vs-streep)
- **supreme** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spree-vs-supreme)
- **see** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/see-vs-spree)
- **SPR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spr-vs-spree)
- **sore** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sore-vs-spree)
- **spec** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spec-vs-spree)
- **sire** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sire-vs-spree)
- **sped** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sped-vs-spree)
- **spew** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spew-vs-spree)
- **space** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/space-vs-spree)
- **speed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/speed-vs-spree)
- **serve** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/serve-vs-spree)
- **spoke** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spoke-vs-spree)
- **spare** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spare-vs-spree)

## Common misspellings (7)
`psree`, `spere`, `sppree`, `spre`, `sprree`, `srpee`, `sspree`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/spree