steward
/ˈst͡ʃuː.əd/
"steward" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“steward” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #16,139 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #16,139
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 5
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A person who manages the property or affairs for another entity.
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 | steward |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈst͡ʃuː.əd/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #16,139 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 5 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “steward” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for steward is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈst͡ʃuː.əd/. Corpus data places it at rank #16,139 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 15 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 steward, with forms such as "setward", "ssteward", and "steawrd". 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 5 confusable-pair relationships, "stewed", "Stewart", "stead", 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 steward, stiward, from Old English stiġweard (“steward, housekeeper, one who has the superintendence of household affairs, guardian”), from stiġ (“a wooden enclosure; house, hall”) + weard (“ward, guard, guardian, keeper”), equivalent to… The correct English form is steward, spelled S-T-E-W-A-R-D.
Definition
- 1A person who manages the property or affairs for another entity.
- 2A person who manages the property or affairs for another entity.
- 3A ship's officer who is in charge of making dining arrangements and provisions.
- 4A flight attendant, especially male.
- 5A union member who is selected as a representative for fellow workers in negotiating terms with management.
- 6A person who has charge of buildings, grounds, or animals.
- 7Someone responsible for organizing an event
- 8A bartender.
- 9A fiscal agent of certain bodies.
- 10A junior assistant in a Masonic lodge.
- 11An officer who provides food for the students and superintends the kitchen; also, an officer who attends to the accounts of the students.
- 12A magistrate appointed by the crown to exercise jurisdiction over royal lands.
- 13Somebody who is responsible for managing a set of projects, products or technologies and how they affect the IT organization to which they belong.
- 14A person who is responsible for the arbitration of incidents at a motor racing event and determining whether or not fines or penalties should be issued for such incidents.
- 15A person who exercises responsible and caring administration of something; a person who exhibits stewardship.
Etymology
From Middle English steward, stiward, from Old English stiġweard (“steward, housekeeper, one who has the superintendence of household affairs, guardian”), from stiġ (“a wooden enclosure; house, hall”) + weard (“ward, guard, guardian, keeper”), equivalent to sty + ward. Compare Icelandic stívarður (“steward”). More at sty, ward.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: setward,ssteward,steawrd,stewadr,stewardd,stewarrd,stewrad,stewward,stteward,stweard,tseward
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of steward - 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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Using “steward”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-T-E-W-A-R-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈst͡ʃuː.əd/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “stewed” - see the side-by-side comparison. steward vs stewed
- 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.