sugar

/ˈʃʊɡ.ə/

//ˈʃʊɡ.ə// noun

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

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

The verdict

“sugar” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #2,132. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,132
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Sucrose in the form of small crystals, obtained from sugar cane or sugar beet and used to sweeten food and drink.

Corpus desk

Index EN-sugar · sugar · English

sugar · rank #2,132 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,132
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH stuck

Nearest frequency peer: stuck (-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 “sugar”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “sugar” 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).

sugar vs sura
60% similar
sugar vs super
60% similar
sugar vs swear
60% similar

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

Key facts for sugar
PropertyValue
Headwordsugar
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈʃʊɡ.ə/
Letters5
Frequency rank#2,132
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “sugar”

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

#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. Same rarity band neighbours include “stuck” (#2,131), “suggested” (#2,133), “soft” (#2,130). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “sugar” is #2,132. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around sugar (IPA /ˈʃʊɡ.ə/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #2,132 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 13 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for sugar, with forms such as "sguar", "ssugar", and "suagr". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "sura", "super", "swear", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱorkeh₂ Proto-Indo-Iranian *ćárkaraH Proto-Indo-Aryan *śárkaraH Sanskrit शर्क॑रा (śárkarā) Gandhari 𐨭𐨐𐨪 (śakara)bor. Middle Persian 𐭱𐭪𐭥 (šakar)bor. Arabic سُكَّر (sukkar)bor. Old Italian zuccherobor. Old French çucr… The correct English form is sugar, spelled S-U-G-A-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Sucrose in the form of small crystals, obtained from sugar cane or sugar beet and used to sweeten food and drink.
  2. 2
    A specific variety of sugar.
  3. 3
    Any of various small carbohydrates that are used by organisms to store energy.
  4. 4
    A small serving of this substance (typically about one teaspoon), used to sweeten a drink.
  5. 5
    A term of endearment.
  6. 6
    Affection shown by kisses or kissing.
  7. 7
    Effeminacy in a male, often implying homosexuality.
  8. 8
    Diabetes.
  9. 9
    Anything resembling sugar in taste or appearance, especially in chemistry.
  10. 10
    Compliment or flattery used to disguise or render acceptable something obnoxious; honeyed or soothing words.
  11. 11
    Heroin.
  12. 12
    Money.
  13. 13
    Syntactic sugar.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. To a pound of gooseberries take a pound and a half of double-refined sugar. Clarify the sugar with water, a pint to a pound of sugar, and when the syrup is cold, put the gooseberries single in your preserving pan, put the syrup to them, and set them on a gentle fire.
  2. There appears to be no prospect of success in attempting to combat the crisis by international arrangement, and any improvement in sugar prices can only be looked for from a diminution of the production, either as a consequence of deficient crops, or of a reduction in manufacture.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱorkeh₂ Proto-Indo-Iranian *ćárkaraH Proto-Indo-Aryan *śárkaraH Sanskrit शर्क॑रा (śárkarā) Gandhari 𐨭𐨐𐨪 (śakara)bor. Middle Persian 𐭱𐭪𐭥 (šakar)bor. Arabic سُكَّر (sukkar)bor. Old Italian zuccherobor. Old French çucrebor. Middle English sugre English sugar Inherited from Middle English sugre, borrowed from Old French çucre, borrowed from Old Italian zucchero, borrowed from Arabic سُكَّر (sukkar), borrowed from Middle Persian 𐭱𐭪𐭥 (šakar), borrowed from Gandhari 𐨭𐨐𐨪 (śakara), from Sanskrit शर्क॑रा (śárkarā), from Proto-Indo-Aryan *śárkaraH, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *ćárkaraH, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱorkeh₂ (“gravel”). Akin to Ancient Greek κρόκη (krókē, “pebble”), whence the words crocodile and krokodil are derived. Doublet of jaggery and sucro-. The verb is from Middle English sugren, from the noun.

This word in other languages

azúcar(Español)sucre(Français)Zucker(Deutsch)açúcar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • sguar
  • ssugar
  • suagr
  • sugarr
  • suggar
  • sugra
  • usgar

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of sugar - 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.

sguar2ssugar1suagr2sugarr1suggar1sugra2usgar2
Edit distance from "sugar"

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 "sugar"?
"sugar" is spelled S-U-G-A-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈʃʊɡ.ə/.
What does "sugar" mean?
As a noun, "sugar" means: Sucrose in the form of small crystals, obtained from sugar cane or sugar beet and used to sweeten food and drink.
What words are commonly confused with "sugar"?
"sugar" is commonly confused with "sura", "super", "swear". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "sugar"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sugar" is /ˈʃʊɡ.ə/. 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 "sugar"?
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱorkeh₂ Proto-Indo-Iranian *ćárkaraH Proto-Indo-Aryan *śárkaraH Sanskrit शर्क॑रा (śárkarā) Gandhari 𐨭𐨐𐨪 (śakara)bor. Middle Persian 𐭱𐭪𐭥 (šakar)bor. Arabic سُكَّر (sukkar)bor. Old Italian zuccherobor. Old F... 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 "sugar", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

stuck#2,131drama#2,151entry#2,152email#2,107

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

adding7 variantsallows7 variantsheads7 variantskeeps7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list