spurn

/spɜːn/

//spɜːn// verb

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

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

The verdict

“spurn” is uncommon English (frequency #62,530 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#62,530
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To reject disdainfully; contemn; scorn.

Corpus desk

Index EN-spurn · spurn · English

spurn · rank #62,530 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #62,530
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH squashing

Nearest frequency peer: squashing (+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.

Long-tail ranks near “spurn”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “spurn” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for spurn
PropertyValue
Headwordspurn
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/spɜːn/
Letters5
Frequency rank#62,530
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “spurn” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).spurnfalls in this rarity band:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “squashing” (#62,531), “Spivey” (#62,528), “speakerphone” (#62,525). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “spurn” is #62,530. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

spurn is uncommon English at frequency #62,530 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /spɜːn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for spurn, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English spurnen, spornen, from Old English spurnan (“to strike against, kick, spurn, reject; stumble”), from Proto-Germanic *spurnaną (“to tread, kick, knock out”), from Proto-Indo-European *sperH-. Cognate with Scots spurn (“to strike, push, ki… The correct English form is spurn, spelled S-P-U-R-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    To reject disdainfully; contemn; scorn.
  2. 2
    To reject something by pushing it away with the foot.
  3. 3
    To waste; fail to make the most of (an opportunity)
  4. 4
    To kick or toss up the heels.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. to spurn at your most royal image
  2. What safe and nicely I might well delay By rule of knighthood, I disdain and spurn.

Etymology

From Middle English spurnen, spornen, from Old English spurnan (“to strike against, kick, spurn, reject; stumble”), from Proto-Germanic *spurnaną (“to tread, kick, knock out”), from Proto-Indo-European *sperH-. Cognate with Scots spurn (“to strike, push, kick”), German spornen (“to spur on”), Icelandic sporna, spyrna (“to kick”), Latin spernō (“despise, distain, scorn”). Related to spur and spread.

This word in other languages

desdeñar(Español)renier(Français)verschmähen(Deutsch)

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 "spurn"?
"spurn" is spelled S-P-U-R-N. The IPA pronunciation is /spɜːn/.
What does "spurn" mean?
As a verb, "spurn" means: To reject disdainfully; contemn; scorn.
How do you pronounce "spurn"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "spurn" is /spɜːn/. 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 "spurn"?
From Middle English spurnen, spornen, from Old English spurnan (“to strike against, kick, spurn, reject; stumble”), from Proto-Germanic *spurnaną (“to tread, kick, knock out”), from Proto-Indo-European *sperH-. Cognate with Scots spurn (“to strike... 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 "spurn", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

soler#62,522Sunda#62,544signe#62,510sider#62,509

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list