suburb

/ˈsʌbɝb/

//ˈsʌbɝb// noun

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

"suburb" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“suburb” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #9,547. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#9,547
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
9
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A residential area located on the outskirts of a city or large town that usually includes businesses that cater to its residents; such as schools, grocery stores, shopping centers, restaurants, con...

Corpus desk

Index EN-suburb · suburb · English

suburb · rank #9,547 · 9 variants · 9 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #9,547
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 9 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH submarine

Nearest frequency peer: submarine (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “suburb”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “suburb” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

suburb vs superb
67% similar
suburb vs suture
67% similar
suburb vs suburbs
86% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for suburb
PropertyValue
Headwordsuburb
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈsʌbɝb/
Letters6
Frequency rank#9,547
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs9
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “suburb”

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “submarine” (#9,546), “Stephanie” (#9,545), “sympathetic” (#9,549). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “suburb” is #9,547. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around suburb (IPA /ˈsʌbɝb/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #9,547 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for suburb, with forms such as "sbuurb", "ssuburb", and "subburb". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 9 confusable-pair relationships, "superb", "suture", "suburbs", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Old French suburbe, subburbe, from Latin suburbium (from sub- (“under-”) + urbs (“city”)). Displaced native Old English underburg (literally “underborough”). The correct English form is suburb, spelled S-U-B-U-R-B.

Definition

  1. 1
    A residential area located on the outskirts of a city or large town that usually includes businesses that cater to its residents; such as schools, grocery stores, shopping centers, restaurants, convenience stores, etc.
  2. 2
    The outer part; the environment.
  3. 3
    Any subdivision of a conurbation, not necessarily on the periphery.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how suburb appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. And the Lord spake vnto Moses in the plaines of Moab by Iordane, neere Iericho, saying, Command the children of Israel, that they giue vnto the Leuites of the inheritance of their possession, cities to dwell in: and yee shall giue also vnto the Leuites suburbs for the cities round about them.
  2. These two circumstances, however, happening both unfortunately to intervene, our travellers deviated into a much less frequented track; and after riding full six miles, instead of arriving at the stately spires of Coventry, they found themselves still in a very dirty lane, where they saw no symptoms of approaching the suburbs of a large city.

Etymology

From Old French suburbe, subburbe, from Latin suburbium (from sub- (“under-”) + urbs (“city”)). Displaced native Old English underburg (literally “underborough”).

This word in other languages

afueras(Español)banlieue(Français)Vorstadt(Deutsch)periferia(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • sbuurb
  • ssuburb
  • subburb
  • subrub
  • sububr
  • suburbb
  • suburrb
  • suubrb
  • usburb

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of suburb - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

sbuurb2ssuburb1subburb1subrub2sububr2suburbb1suburrb1suubrb2
Edit distance from "suburb"

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 "suburb"?
"suburb" is spelled S-U-B-U-R-B. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈsʌbɝb/.
What does "suburb" mean?
As a noun, "suburb" means: A residential area located on the outskirts of a city or large town that usually includes businesses that cater to its residents; such as schools, grocery stores, shopping centers, restaurants, con...
What words are commonly confused with "suburb"?
"suburb" is commonly confused with "superb", "suture", "suburbs". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "suburb"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "suburb" is /ˈsʌbɝb/. 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 "suburb"?
From Old French suburbe, subburbe, from Latin suburbium (from sub- (“under-”) + urbs (“city”)). Displaced native Old English underburg (literally “underborough”). 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 "suburb", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

temper#9,551rotten#9,531arrows#9,564ribbon#9,527

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

snapped9 variantsroommate9 variantsbanning9 variantsBurton9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list