stratus
/ˈstɹeɪ.təs/
"stratus" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“stratus” is uncommon English (frequency #59,050 among 54,294 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #59,050
- frequency rank, English
- 54,294
- “S” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A principal, low-level cloud type in the form of a gray layer with a rather uniform base, usually not associated with precipitation, and capable of producing corona phenomena and a weak, uniform lu...
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | stratus |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈstɹeɪ.təs/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #59,050 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “stratus” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
stratus is uncommon English at frequency #59,050 among 54,294 “S” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈstɹeɪ.təs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A principal, low-level cloud type in the form of a gray layer with a rather uniform base, usually not associated with precipitation, and capable of producing corona phenomena and a weak, uniform lu...".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for stratus, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *str̥h₃tós Proto-Italic *strātos Latin stratuslbor. English stratus Borrowed from Latin stratus. Doublet of strath. The correct English form is stratus, spelled S-T-R-A-T-U-S.
Definition
- 1A principal, low-level cloud type in the form of a gray layer with a rather uniform base, usually not associated with precipitation, and capable of producing corona phenomena and a weak, uniform luminance; abbreviated St.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *str̥h₃tós Proto-Italic *strātos Latin stratuslbor. English stratus Borrowed from Latin stratus. Doublet of strath.
This word in other languages
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 “stratus”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-T-R-A-T-U-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈstɹeɪ.təs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.