suffer
/ˈsʌfə/
"suffer" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“suffer” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #3,338. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #3,338
- frequency rank, English
- 6,566
- “S” headwords
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 17
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To undergo hardship.
Corpus desk
Index EN-suffer · suffer · English
suffer · rank #3,338 · 7 variants · 17 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #3,338
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 17 pairs
- VAR-MID 7 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 6,566
- PHOTO-FINISH successfully
Nearest frequency peer: successfully (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “suffer”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- silent
silent
96,666 corpus weight
- spoken
spoken
96,665 corpus weight
- successfully
successfully
96,664 corpus weight
- suffer
suffer
96,663 corpus weight
- temple
temple
96,662 corpus weight
- tracks
tracks
96,661 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “suffer” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | suffer |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈsʌfə/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #3,338 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 17 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “suffer” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 7 spelling variants around suffer (IPA /ˈsʌfə/), averb. Corpus frequency is #3,338 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for suffer, with forms such as "sfufer", "ssuffer", and "sufefr". 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 17 confusable-pair relationships, "super", "summer", "supper", 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 suffren, from Anglo-Norman suffrir, from Latin sufferre (“to offer, hold up, bear, suffer”), from sub- (“up, under”) + ferō (“I carry”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to bear, carry”). Displaced native Old English þrōwian. The correct English form is suffer, spelled S-U-F-F-E-R.
Definition
- 1To undergo hardship.
- 2To feel pain.
- 3To become worse.
- 4To endure, undergo.
- 5To allow.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how suffer appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Many artists suffer before becoming famous.
At least he didn't suffer when he died in the car crash.
Etymology
From Middle English suffren, from Anglo-Norman suffrir, from Latin sufferre (“to offer, hold up, bear, suffer”), from sub- (“up, under”) + ferō (“I carry”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to bear, carry”). Displaced native Old English þrōwian.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- sfufer
- ssuffer
- sufefr
- sufer
- sufferr
- suffre
- usffer
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of suffer - 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
How do you spell "suffer"?
What does "suffer" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "suffer"?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "suffer", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "suffer". Here's where to go from here.
- "suffer" maps to 17 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "super". View pair
- 7 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #3,338 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "S" letter cohort. S–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
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.