stalker
/ˈstɔːkə(ɹ)/
"stalker" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“stalker” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #16,136 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #16,136
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 18
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A person who engages in stalking, i.e., quietly approaching animals to be hunted; a tracker or guide in hunting game.
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 | stalker |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈstɔːkə(ɹ)/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #16,136 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 18 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “stalker” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for stalker is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈstɔːkə(ɹ)/. Corpus data places it at rank #16,136 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for stalker, with forms such as "satlker", "sstalker", and "stakler". 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 18 confusable-pair relationships, "stoker", "starter", "striker", 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 English stalkere, equivalent to stalk + -er. The correct English form is stalker, spelled S-T-A-L-K-E-R.
Definition
- 1A person who engages in stalking, i.e., quietly approaching animals to be hunted; a tracker or guide in hunting game.
- 2A person who secretly follows someone, sometimes with unlawful intentions.
- 3Any of various devices for removing the stalk from plants during harvesting.
- 4Any bird that walks with a stalking motion.
- 5A kind of fishing net.
- 6A horse that tends to stay just behind the leaders in a race.
Etymology
From Middle English stalkere, equivalent to stalk + -er.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: satlker,sstalker,stakler,stalekr,stalkerr,stalkker,stalkre,stallker,stlaker,sttalker,tsalker
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of stalker - 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
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Using “stalker”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-T-A-L-K-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈstɔːkə(ɹ)/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “stoker” - see the side-by-side comparison. stalker vs stoker
- 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.