stepbrother

noun

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

"stepbrother" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“stepbrother” is uncommon English (frequency #55,774 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#55,774
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The son of one's stepparent by a previous relationship.

Corpus desk

Index EN-stepbrother · stepbrother · English

stepbrother · rank #55,774 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #55,774
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH Steinway

Nearest frequency peer: Steinway (-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 “stepbrother”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for stepbrother
PropertyValue
Headwordstepbrother
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters11
Frequency rank#55,774
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “stepbrother” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).stepbrotherfalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “Steinway” (#55,773), “stocker” (#55,776), “steamboats” (#55,771). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “stepbrother” is #55,774. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

stepbrother is uncommon English at frequency #55,774 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

stepbrother doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From step- + brother. The correct English form is stepbrother, spelled S-T-E-P-B-R-O-T-H-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    The son of one's stepparent by a previous relationship.
  2. 2
    The stepson of one's parent who is not one's half-brother.

Etymology

From step- + brother.

Synonyms

stepbro

This word in other languages

hermanastro(Español)quasi-frère(Français)Stiefbruder(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 "stepbrother"?
"stepbrother" is spelled S-T-E-P-B-R-O-T-H-E-R.
What does "stepbrother" mean?
As a noun, "stepbrother" means: The son of one's stepparent by a previous relationship.
What is the origin of the word "stepbrother"?
From step- + brother. 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 "stepbrother", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

telekinesis#55,796undersigned#55,835untraceable#55,839Weatherford#55,852

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list