steak

/steɪk/

//steɪk// noun

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

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

The verdict

“steak” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #7,503. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#7,503
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Beefsteak: a slice of beef, broiled or cut for broiling.

Corpus desk

Index EN-steak · steak · English

steak · rank #7,503 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #7,503
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH slap

Nearest frequency peer: slap (-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 “steak”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “steak” 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).

steak vs stem
60% similar
steak vs stew
60% similar
steak vs stock
60% similar

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

Key facts for steak
PropertyValue
Headwordsteak
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/steɪk/
Letters5
Frequency rank#7,503
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “steak”

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).steaklands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “slap” (#7,502), “succession” (#7,504), “shouting” (#7,501). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “steak” is #7,503. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around steak (IPA /steɪk/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #7,503 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for steak, with forms such as "setak", "ssteak", and "steakk". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "stem", "stew", "stock", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English steike, from Old Norse steik (“roast; meat roasted on a stick”). The verb is either from the noun or from steikja (“to roast”). The modern pronunciation shows an irregular change of Early Modern English /ɛː/ to /eɪ/ in the standard langu… The correct English form is steak, spelled S-T-E-A-K.

Definition

  1. 1
    Beefsteak: a slice of beef, broiled or cut for broiling.
  2. 2
    A relatively large, thick slice or slab cut from another animal, a vegetable, etc.
  3. 3
    A slice of meat cut across the grain (perpendicular to the spine) from a fish.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. venison steak, bear steak, pork steak, turtle steak, salmon steak; cauliflower steak, eggplant steaks
  2. The San Juan market is Mexico City's most famous deli of exotic meats, where an adventurous shopper can hunt down hard-to-find critters […] But the priciest items in the market aren't the armadillo steaks or even the bluefin tuna.

Etymology

From Middle English steike, from Old Norse steik (“roast; meat roasted on a stick”). The verb is either from the noun or from steikja (“to roast”). The modern pronunciation shows an irregular change of Early Modern English /ɛː/ to /eɪ/ in the standard language; contrast this with the development of other words such as speak and wreak.

This word in other languages

bistec(Español)bifteck(Français)Steak(Deutsch)bife(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • setak
  • ssteak
  • steakk
  • steka
  • stteak
  • tseak

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of steak - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

setak2ssteak1steakk1steka2stteak1tseak2
Edit distance from "steak"

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 "steak"?
"steak" is spelled S-T-E-A-K. The IPA pronunciation is /steɪk/.
What does "steak" mean?
As a noun, "steak" means: Beefsteak: a slice of beef, broiled or cut for broiling.
What words are commonly confused with "steak"?
"steak" is commonly confused with "stem", "stew", "stock". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "steak"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "steak" is /steɪk/. 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 "steak"?
From Middle English steike, from Old Norse steik (“roast; meat roasted on a stick”). The verb is either from the noun or from steikja (“to roast”). The modern pronunciation shows an irregular change of Early Modern English /ɛː/ to /eɪ/ in the stan... 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 "steak", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

sweep#7,507scout#7,498sally#7,496tumor#7,514

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

slap6 variantsmanga6 variantsChen6 variantshers6 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list