tears

/tɪɹz/

//tɪɹz// noun

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

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

The verdict

“tears” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #3,198. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#3,198
frequency rank, English
3,151
“T” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - plural of tear (“liquid from the eyes”)

Corpus desk

Index EN-tears · tears · English

tears · rank #3,198 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,198
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,151
  • PHOTO-FINISH strongly

Nearest frequency peer: strongly (-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 “tears”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “tears” 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).

tears vs ter
60% similar
tears vs term
60% similar
tears vs tens
60% similar

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

Key facts for tears
PropertyValue
Headwordtears
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/tɪɹz/
Letters5
Frequency rank#3,198
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “tears”

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

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “strongly” (#3,197), “technique” (#3,199), “situations” (#3,196). Among 3,151 “T” headwords, “tears” is #3,198. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around tears (IPA /tɪɹz/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #3,198 among 3,151 “T” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for tears, with forms such as "etars", "taers", and "tearrs". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ter", "term", "tens", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct English form is tears, spelled T-E-A-R-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    plural of tear (“liquid from the eyes”)
  2. 2
    Viscous streaks left on the inside of the glass when certain wines are swirled around before tasting.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • etars
  • taers
  • tearrs
  • tearss
  • teasr
  • teras
  • ttears

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

etars2taers2tearrs1tearss1teasr2teras2ttears1
Edit distance from "tears"

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 "tears"?
"tears" is spelled T-E-A-R-S. The IPA pronunciation is /tɪɹz/.
What does "tears" mean?
As a noun, "tears" means: plural of tear (“liquid from the eyes”)
What words are commonly confused with "tears"?
"tears" is commonly confused with "ter", "term", "tens". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "tears"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "tears" is /tɪɹz/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "tears" come from?
"tears" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 "tears", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

argue#3,206awful#3,209occur#3,187mount#3,185

Similar misspelling depth

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

accused7 variantsbound7 variantsmirror7 variantslesson7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list