syrup
/ˈsɪ.ɹəp/
"syrup" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“syrup” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #10,290 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #10,290
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 15
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any thick liquid that has a high sugar content and which is added to or poured over food as a flavoring.
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 | syrup |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈsɪ.ɹəp/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #10,290 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 15 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “syrup” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for syrup is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈsɪ.ɹəp/. Corpus data places it at rank #10,290 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for syrup, with forms such as "sryup", "ssyrup", and "syrpu". 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 15 confusable-pair relationships, "sup", "soup", "Syria", 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 sirup, from Old French sirop, from Medieval Latin siruppus, syrupus, from Arabic شَرَاب (šarāb, “a drink, beverage, wine, coffee, syrup”), from شَرِبَ (šariba, “to drink”). Doublet of sirop. Related to sorbet, sherbet, sharbat. Compare F… The correct English form is syrup, spelled S-Y-R-U-P.
Definition
- 1Any thick liquid that has a high sugar content and which is added to or poured over food as a flavoring.
- 2Any viscous liquid.
- 3Anything overly sweet or sentimental.
- 4A wig.
Etymology
From Middle English sirup, from Old French sirop, from Medieval Latin siruppus, syrupus, from Arabic شَرَاب (šarāb, “a drink, beverage, wine, coffee, syrup”), from شَرِبَ (šariba, “to drink”). Doublet of sirop. Related to sorbet, sherbet, sharbat. Compare French sirop, Italian siroppo, sciroppo, Spanish jarabe, jarope, Portuguese xarope, and Dutch siroop and stroop. The first known use of the spelling sirup was in the 14th century.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: sryup,ssyrup,syrpu,syrrup,syrupp,syurp,syyrup,ysrup
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of syrup - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "syrup"?
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What words are commonly confused with "syrup"?
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Using “syrup”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-Y-R-U-P - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈsɪ.ɹəp/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “sup” - see the side-by-side comparison. syrup vs sup
- 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.