trousers
/ˈtɹaʊzəz/
"trousers" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“trousers” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #11,313 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #11,313
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An article of clothing that covers the part of the body between the waist and the ankles or knees, and is divided into a separate part for each leg.
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 | trousers |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈtɹaʊzəz/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #11,313 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “trousers” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for trousers is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈtɹaʊzəz/. Corpus data places it at rank #11,313 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "An article of clothing that covers the part of the body between the waist and the ankles or knees, and is divided into a separate part for each leg.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for trousers, with forms such as "rtousers", "torusers", and "trosuers". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "trouser", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Attested since the 1610s, from the earlier form trouzes (attested since the 1580s), extended from trouse (1570s), with plural ending typical of things in pairs, from Middle Irish triubus (“close-fitting shorts”), from Old Irish tribus, of uncertain origin. … The correct English form is trousers, spelled T-R-O-U-S-E-R-S.
Definition
- 1An article of clothing that covers the part of the body between the waist and the ankles or knees, and is divided into a separate part for each leg.
Etymology
Attested since the 1610s, from the earlier form trouzes (attested since the 1580s), extended from trouse (1570s), with plural ending typical of things in pairs, from Middle Irish triubus (“close-fitting shorts”), from Old Irish tribus, of uncertain origin. The unexplained intrusive second -r- is perhaps due to the influence of drawers. Doublet of trews (“trousers”). Old Irish tribus is probably a borrowing of Anglo-Norman tribuz, trebuz, from Old French trebus, from Old Occitan trebucs, trabucs, from Late Latin trabrugi, tribuces, tubruci (“leg-coverings”), from an early Germanic language, likely Gothic *𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌷𐌱𐍂𐍉𐌺𐍃 (*þiuhbrōks), from Proto-Germanic *þeuhabrōks (“loincloth, trousers”), from Proto-Germanic *þeuhą (“thigh”) + *brōks (“leggings, trousers”), thus making it by surface analysis, thigh + breeches. Cognate with Old High German diohbruoh (“loincloth, trousers”), whence obsolete German Diechbruch (“short legwear, knee breeches, loincloth”).
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: rtousers,torusers,trosuers,trouesrs,trouserrs,trouserss,trousesr,trousres,troussers,trrousers,truosers,ttrousers
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of trousers - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 "trousers"?
What does "trousers" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "trousers"?
How do you pronounce "trousers"?
What is the origin of the word "trousers"?
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Using “trousers”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-R-O-U-S-E-R-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈtɹaʊzəz/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “trouser” - see the side-by-side comparison. trousers vs trouser
- 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.