strum

/strʌm/

//strʌm// verb

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

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

The verdict

“strum” is uncommon English (frequency #54,512 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#54,512
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To play (a guitar or other stringed instrument) by plucking various strings simultaneously.

Corpus desk

Index EN-strum · strum · English

strum · rank #54,512 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #54,512
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH striping

Nearest frequency peer: striping (-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 “strum”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for strum
PropertyValue
Headwordstrum
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/strʌm/
Letters5
Frequency rank#54,512
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “strum” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).strumfalls in this rarity band:

#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. Rare peers in the same band: “striping” (#54,511), “suffragette” (#54,513), “Sumatran” (#54,514). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “strum” is #54,512. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

strum is uncommon English at frequency #54,512 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /strʌm/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To play (a guitar or other stringed instrument) by plucking various strings simultaneously.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for strum, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: Variant of thrum. The correct English form is strum, spelled S-T-R-U-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    To play (a guitar or other stringed instrument) by plucking various strings simultaneously.

Etymology

Variant of thrum.

Synonyms

thrum

This word in other languages

rasguear(Español)racler(Français)schrammeln(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 "strum"?
"strum" is spelled S-T-R-U-M. The IPA pronunciation is /strʌm/.
What does "strum" mean?
As a verb, "strum" means: To play (a guitar or other stringed instrument) by plucking various strings simultaneously.
How do you pronounce "strum"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "strum" is /strʌm/. 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 "strum"?
Variant of thrum. 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 "strum", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

snook#54,495Sisko#54,487Trang#54,537Tyree#54,546

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list