Uncle Sam
/ˌʌŋkl̩ ˈsæm/
"uncle-sam" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Uncle Sam” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A personification of the United States federal government or (rare) citizens.
Corpus desk
Index EN-uncle-sam · Uncle Sam · English
Uncle Sam · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "U" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Uncle Sam |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /ˌʌŋkl̩ ˈsæm/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “Uncle Sam” in English
Rare enough to double-check
Uncle Sam is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aproper noun, transcribed /ˌʌŋkl̩ ˈsæm/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A personification of the United States federal government or (rare) citizens.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for Uncle Sam, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From uncle + Sam (diminutive of the male name Samuel), probably based on the initialism U.S. of the United States. While folk etymology suggests that the term was named after Samuel Wilson (1766–1854), a meat packer from Troy, New York, who supplied the Uni… The correct English form is Uncle Sam, spelled U-N-C-L-E- -S-A-M.
Definition
- 1A personification of the United States federal government or (rare) citizens.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how Uncle Sam appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Uncle Sam needs brave men and women to enlist in the Army.
Etymology
From uncle + Sam (diminutive of the male name Samuel), probably based on the initialism U.S. of the United States. While folk etymology suggests that the term was named after Samuel Wilson (1766–1854), a meat packer from Troy, New York, who supplied the United States Army with canned meat during the War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom, the Oxford English Dictionary notes there is no evidence that this is the case.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.