wander
/ˈwɒndə/
"wander" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“wander” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #11,821. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #11,821
- frequency rank, English
- 12,113
- “W” headwords
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To move without purpose or specified destination; often in search of livelihood.
Corpus desk
Index EN-wander · wander · English
wander · rank #11,821 · 9 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #11,821
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 9 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 12,113
- PHOTO-FINISH vibrant
Nearest frequency peer: vibrant (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “wander”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- unsafe
unsafe
88,183 corpus weight
- verge
verge
88,182 corpus weight
- vibrant
vibrant
88,181 corpus weight
- wander
wander
88,180 corpus weight
- wong
wong
88,179 corpus weight
- XP
XP
88,178 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “wander” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | wander |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈwɒndə/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #11,821 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “wander” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 9 spelling variants around wander (IPA /ˈwɒndə/), averb. Corpus frequency is #11,821 among 12,113 “W” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for wander, with forms such as "awnder", "wadner", and "wandder". 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, "wane", "Water", "wider", 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 wandren, from Old English wandrian (“to wander, roam, fly around, hover; change; stray, err”), from Proto-West Germanic *wandarōn (“to wander”), from *wandōn (“to turn, change”) + *-rōn (frequentative suffix). Cognate with Scots wander (… The correct English form is wander, spelled W-A-N-D-E-R.
Definition
- 1To move without purpose or specified destination; often in search of livelihood.
- 2To stray; stray from one's course; err.
- 3To commit adultery.
- 4To go somewhere indirectly or at varying speeds; to move in a curved path.
- 5Of the mind, to lose focus or clarity of argument or attention.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how wander appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
to wander over the fields
They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins.
Etymology
From Middle English wandren, from Old English wandrian (“to wander, roam, fly around, hover; change; stray, err”), from Proto-West Germanic *wandarōn (“to wander”), from *wandōn (“to turn, change”) + *-rōn (frequentative suffix). Cognate with Scots wander (“to wander”), German wandern (“to wander, roam, hike, migrate”), Dutch wandelen (“to wander, roam, hike, migrate”), Danish vandre (“to wander, roam, hike, migrate”), Swedish vandra (“to wander, hike”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- awnder
- wadner
- wandder
- wanderr
- wandre
- wanedr
- wannder
- wnader
- wwander
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of wander - 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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "wander", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).
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.