sunspot

/ˈsʌnspɒt/

//ˈsʌnspɒt// noun

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

"sunspot" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“sunspot” is uncommon English (frequency #50,255 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#50,255
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A region on the sun's surface with a lower temperature than its surroundings and intense magnetic activity.

Corpus desk

Index EN-sunspot · sunspot · English

sunspot · rank #50,255 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #50,255
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH sulk

Nearest frequency peer: sulk (-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 “sunspot”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for sunspot
PropertyValue
Headwordsunspot
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈsʌnspɒt/
Letters7
Frequency rank#50,255
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “sunspot” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).sunspotfalls in this rarity band:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “sulk” (#50,254), “superboy” (#50,256), “supercell” (#50,257). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “sunspot” is #50,255. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

sunspot is uncommon English at frequency #50,255 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈsʌnspɒt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for sunspot in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: From sun + spot. The correct English form is sunspot, spelled S-U-N-S-P-O-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    A region on the sun's surface with a lower temperature than its surroundings and intense magnetic activity.
  2. 2
    A random shock in the foreign exchange currency market.

Etymology

From sun + spot.

This word in other languages

tache solaire(Français)Sonnenfleck(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 "sunspot"?
"sunspot" is spelled S-U-N-S-P-O-T. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈsʌnspɒt/.
What does "sunspot" mean?
As a noun, "sunspot" means: A region on the sun's surface with a lower temperature than its surroundings and intense magnetic activity.
How do you pronounce "sunspot"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sunspot" is /ˈsʌnspɒt/. 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 "sunspot"?
From sun + spot. 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 "sunspot", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

subsist#50,252topsoil#50,278shoebox#50,230shitter#50,229

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list