Sunday

/ˈsʌn.deɪ/

//ˈsʌn.deɪ// noun

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

The verdict

“Sunday” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #1,287 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#1,287
frequency rank, English
6
letters
9
tracked misspellings
12
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The first day of the week in many religious traditions, and the seventh day of the week in systems using the ISO 8601 standard; the Christian Sabbath; the Lord's Day; it follows Saturday and preced...

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

Sunday vs SUNY
17% similar
Sunday vs sunny
50% similar
Sunday vs sundry
67% similar

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

Key facts for Sunday
PropertyValue
HeadwordSunday
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈsʌn.deɪ/
Letters6
Frequency rank#1,287
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs12
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “Sunday” sits in English frequency

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for Sunday is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈsʌn.deɪ/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,287 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for Sunday, with forms such as "snuday", "ssunday", and "sudnay". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 12 confusable-pair relationships, "SUNY", "sunny", "sundry", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English Sonday, from Old English sunnandæġ, from Proto-West Germanic *Sunnōn dag (literally “day of the Sun”), equivalent to sun + day, as a calque (interpretātiō germānica) of Latin diēs Sōlis; declared the "venerable day of the sun" by Roman E… The correct English form is Sunday, spelled S-U-N-D-A-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    The first day of the week in many religious traditions, and the seventh day of the week in systems using the ISO 8601 standard; the Christian Sabbath; the Lord's Day; it follows Saturday and precedes Monday.
  2. 2
    A newspaper published on Sunday.
  3. 3
    A comic strip published in a Sunday newspaper.
  4. 4
    Describes someone who does something occasionally or casually, and therefore without skill.
  5. 5
    Describes something particularly fine and elegant, particularly something that could be worn to or used at church.

Etymology

From Middle English Sonday, from Old English sunnandæġ, from Proto-West Germanic *Sunnōn dag (literally “day of the Sun”), equivalent to sun + day, as a calque (interpretātiō germānica) of Latin diēs Sōlis; declared the "venerable day of the sun" by Roman Emperor Constantine on March 7, 321 C.E. Compare Saterland Frisian Sundai (“Sunday”), German Low German Sünndag, Dutch zondag, West Frisian snein, German Sonntag, Danish søndag.

Synonyms

SunSun.the Lord's day

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: snuday,ssunday,sudnay,sunady,sundayy,sundday,sundya,sunnday,usnday

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Sunday - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

snuday2ssunday1sudnay2sunady2sundayy1sundday1sundya2sunnday1
Edit distance from "Sunday"

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 "Sunday"?
"Sunday" is spelled S-U-N-D-A-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈsʌn.deɪ/.
What does "Sunday" mean?
As a noun, "Sunday" means: The first day of the week in many religious traditions, and the seventh day of the week in systems using the ISO 8601 standard; the Christian Sabbath; the Lord's Day; it follows Saturday and preced...
What words are commonly confused with "Sunday"?
"Sunday" is commonly confused with "SUNY", "sunny", "sundry". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Sunday"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Sunday" is /ˈsʌn.deɪ/. 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 "Sunday"?
From Middle English Sonday, from Old English sunnandæġ, from Proto-West Germanic *Sunnōn dag (literally “day of the Sun”), equivalent to sun + day, as a calque (interpretātiō germānica) of Latin diēs Sōlis; declared the "venerable day of the sun" ... 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.

Using “Sunday”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is S-U-N-D-A-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ˈsʌn.deɪ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “SUNY” - see the side-by-side comparison. Sunday vs SUNY
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list