trouble

/ˈtɹʌb.əl/

//ˈtɹʌb.əl// noun

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

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

The verdict

“trouble” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #1,707 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#1,707
frequency rank, English
7
letters
10
tracked misspellings
6
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A distressing or dangerous situation.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

trouble vs troupe
71% similar
trouble vs Troubles
75% similar
trouble vs troubled
88% similar

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

Key facts for trouble
PropertyValue
Headwordtrouble
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈtɹʌb.əl/
Letters7
Frequency rank#1,707
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs6
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “trouble” 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). trouble 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 trouble is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈtɹʌb.əl/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,707 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 14 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for trouble, with forms such as "rtouble", "toruble", and "trobule". 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 6 confusable-pair relationships, "troupe", "Troubles", "troubled", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Verb is from Middle English troublen, trouble, borrowed from Old French troubler, trobler, trubler, metathetic variants of tourbler, torbler, turbler, from Vulgar Latin *turbulō, from Latin turbula (“disorderly group, a little crowd or people”), diminutive … The correct English form is trouble, spelled T-R-O-U-B-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A distressing or dangerous situation.
  2. 2
    A difficulty, problem, condition, or action contributing to such a situation.
  3. 3
    A person liable to place others or themselves in such a situation.
  4. 4
    The state of being troubled, disturbed, or distressed mentally; unease, disquiet.
  5. 5
    Objectionable feature of something or someone; problem, drawback, weakness, failing, or shortcoming.
  6. 6
    Violent or turbulent occurrence or event; unrest, disturbance.
  7. 7
    Efforts taken or expended, typically beyond the normal required.
  8. 8
    Difficulty in doing something.
  9. 9
    Health problems, ailment, generally of some particular part of the body.
  10. 10
    A malfunction.
  11. 11
    Liability to punishment; conflict with authority.
  12. 12
    A fault or interruption in a stratum.
  13. 13
    Wife. Clipping of trouble and strife.
  14. 14
    An unplanned, unwanted or undesired pregnancy.

Etymology

Verb is from Middle English troublen, trouble, borrowed from Old French troubler, trobler, trubler, metathetic variants of tourbler, torbler, turbler, from Vulgar Latin *turbulō, from Latin turbula (“disorderly group, a little crowd or people”), diminutive of turba (“stir; crowd”). The noun is from Middle English trouble, troble, from Old French troble, from the verb.

This word in other languages

problema(Español)peine(Français)Ärger(Deutsch)problema(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: rtouble,toruble,trobule,troubble,troubel,troublle,troulbe,trrouble,truoble,ttrouble

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

rtouble2toruble2trobule2troubble1troubel2troublle1troulbe2trrouble1
Edit distance from "trouble"

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 "trouble"?
"trouble" is spelled T-R-O-U-B-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈtɹʌb.əl/.
What does "trouble" mean?
As a noun, "trouble" means: A distressing or dangerous situation.
What words are commonly confused with "trouble"?
"trouble" is commonly confused with "troupe", "Troubles", "troubled". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "trouble"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "trouble" is /ˈtɹʌb.əl/. 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 "trouble"?
Verb is from Middle English troublen, trouble, borrowed from Old French troubler, trobler, trubler, metathetic variants of tourbler, torbler, turbler, from Vulgar Latin *turbulō, from Latin turbula (“disorderly group, a little crowd or people”), d... 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 “trouble”

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

  • The one correct English spelling is T-R-O-U-B-L-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ˈtɹʌb.əl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “troupe” - see the side-by-side comparison. trouble vs troupe
  • 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