weasel
/ˈwiːz(ə)l/
"weasel" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“weasel” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #22,861 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #22,861
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 6
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any of the carnivorous mammals of the genera Mustela, Neogale, Poecilogale, and Lyncodon, having a slender body, a long tail and usually a light brown upper coat and light-coloured belly.
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 | weasel |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈwiːz(ə)l/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #22,861 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 6 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “weasel” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for weasel is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈwiːz(ə)l/. Corpus data places it at rank #22,861 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for weasel, with forms such as "ewasel", "waesel", and "weaesl". 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, "weave", "weaver", "Wessex", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English wesele, from Old English weosule, from Proto-West Germanic *wisulā, from Proto-Germanic *wisulǭ. The verb is from c. 1900, from the supposed cunningness of the weasel. The correct English form is weasel, spelled W-E-A-S-E-L.
Definition
- 1Any of the carnivorous mammals of the genera Mustela, Neogale, Poecilogale, and Lyncodon, having a slender body, a long tail and usually a light brown upper coat and light-coloured belly.
- 2A least weasel (Mustela nivalis).
- 3Any of certain other species of the family Mustelidae.
- 4A devious or sneaky person or animal.
- 5A type of yarn winder used for counting the yardage of handspun yarn. It most commonly has a wooden peg or dowel that pops up from the gearing mechanism after a certain number of yards have been wound onto the winder.
Etymology
From Middle English wesele, from Old English weosule, from Proto-West Germanic *wisulā, from Proto-Germanic *wisulǭ. The verb is from c. 1900, from the supposed cunningness of the weasel.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ewasel,waesel,weaesl,weasell,weasle,weassel,wesael,wweasel
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of weasel - 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 "weasel"?
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Using “weasel”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is W-E-A-S-E-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈwiːz(ə)l/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “weave” - see the side-by-side comparison. weasel vs weave
- 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.