sputnik
/ˈspʊtnɪk/
"sputnik" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“sputnik” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #38,631. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #38,631
- frequency rank, English
- 6,566
- “S” headwords
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any of a series of Soviet robotic space satellites, especially the first one in 1957.
Corpus desk
Index EN-sputnik · sputnik · English
sputnik · rank #38,631 · 11 variants · 1 confusable
- FREQ-MID #38,631
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
- VAR-MID 11 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 6,566
- PHOTO-FINISH splatter
Nearest frequency peer: splatter (-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 “sputnik”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- southernmost
southernmost
61,373 corpus weight
- spitzer
spitzer
61,372 corpus weight
- splatter
splatter
61,371 corpus weight
- sputnik
sputnik
61,370 corpus weight
- squirting
squirting
61,369 corpus weight
- Stanhope
Stanhope
61,368 corpus weight
What this shows “sputnik” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
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 | sputnik |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈspʊtnɪk/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #38,631 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “sputnik”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 11 spelling variants around sputnik (IPA /ˈspʊtnɪk/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #38,631 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for sputnik, with forms such as "psutnik", "spputnik", and "sptunik". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "spunk", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sem- Proto-Indo-European *sm̥- Proto-Balto-Slavic *san? Proto-Indo-European *ḱe Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm? Proto-Slavic *sъ(n) Russian с- (s-) Proto-Indo-European *pent- Proto-Indo-European *póntoh₁s Proto-Balto-Slavic *pá… The correct English form is sputnik, spelled S-P-U-T-N-I-K.
Definition
- 1Any of a series of Soviet robotic space satellites, especially the first one in 1957.
- 2Any artificial satellite.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how sputnik appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Half a century ago, when the Soviets beat us into space with the launch of a satellite called Sputnik, we had no idea how we would beat them to the moon. The science wasn't even there yet. NASA didn't exist. But after investing in better research and education, we didn't just surpass the Soviets; we unleashed a wave of innovation that created new industri…
With this program, we could bring water to the Middle East. We could rebuild some of our sagging esteem in that part of the world; we could insure that in this area at least we would have our sputniks abreast the Russians', and we could do our own economy a priceless good turn.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sem- Proto-Indo-European *sm̥- Proto-Balto-Slavic *san? Proto-Indo-European *ḱe Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm? Proto-Slavic *sъ(n) Russian с- (s-) Proto-Indo-European *pent- Proto-Indo-European *póntoh₁s Proto-Balto-Slavic *pántis Proto-Slavic *pǫtь Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Balto-Slavic *-inas Proto-Slavic *-ьnъ Proto-Indo-European *-eykos Proto-Balto-Slavic *-eikas Proto-Slavic *-ikъ Proto-Slavic *-ьnikъ Proto-Slavic *pǫtьnikъ Russian пу́тник (pútnik) Russian спу́тник (spútnik)bor. English sputnik From Russian спу́тник (spútnik, “satellite”, literally “fellow traveller”), from с- (s-, “with, together”) + пу́тник (pútnik, “traveller”), from путь (putʹ, “way, journey”) + agent suffix -ник (-nik).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- psutnik
- spputnik
- sptunik
- spuntik
- sputink
- sputnikk
- sputnki
- sputnnik
- sputtnik
- ssputnik
- suptnik
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of sputnik - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "sputnik", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).