stinger
/ˈstɪŋ.ə(ɹ)/
"stinger" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“stinger” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #32,195 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #32,195
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A pointed portion of an insect or arachnid used for attack.
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 | stinger |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈstɪŋ.ə(ɹ)/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #32,195 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “stinger” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for stinger is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈstɪŋ.ə(ɹ)/. Corpus data places it at rank #32,195 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 stinger, with forms such as "sitnger", "sstinger", and "stigner". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "stoner", "stingy", "stunner", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From sting + -er. Both figurative and literal senses appeared in the 16th century. The correct English form is stinger, spelled S-T-I-N-G-E-R.
Definition
- 1A pointed portion of an insect or arachnid used for attack.
- 2Anything that is used to sting, as a means of attack.
- 3Anything, such as an insult, that stings mentally or psychologically.
- 4A cocktail of brandy and crème de menthe.
- 5A portable bed of nails to puncture car tires, used by police and military forces.
- 6A minor neurological injury of the spine characterized by a shooting or stinging pain down one arm, followed by numbness and weakness.
- 7A station identifier on television or radio played between shows.
- 8A scene shown on films or television shows after the credits.
- 9A nonlethal grenade using rubber instead of shrapnel, more commonly called a sting grenade.
- 10A short musical phrase or chord used non-diegetically to dramatic or emphatic effect.
- 11A final note played at the end of a military march.
- 12An extension cord.
- 13A stinging nettle.
- 14Chironex fleckeri, an extremely venomous Australian box jellyfish.
- 15An improvised heating element used to boil or heat water in prison.
Etymology
From sting + -er. Both figurative and literal senses appeared in the 16th century.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: sitnger,sstinger,stigner,stinegr,stingerr,stingger,stingre,stinnger,stniger,sttinger,tsinger
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of stinger - 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 “stinger”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-T-I-N-G-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈstɪŋ.ə(ɹ)/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “stoner” - see the side-by-side comparison. stinger vs stoner
- 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.