woodchuck

/ˈwʊd.t͡ʃʌk/

//ˈwʊd.t͡ʃʌk// noun

"woodchuck" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“woodchuck” is uncommon English (frequency #67,178 among 1,759 “W” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#67,178
frequency rank, English
1,759
“W” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots, Marmota monax.

Corpus desk

Index EN-woodchuck · woodchuck · English

woodchuck · rank #67,178 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #67,178
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,759
  • PHOTO-FINISH Wogan

Nearest frequency peer: Wogan (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “woodchuck”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “woodchuck” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for woodchuck
PropertyValue
Headwordwoodchuck
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈwʊd.t͡ʃʌk/
Letters9
Frequency rank#67,178
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “woodchuck” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).woodchuckfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “Wogan” (#67,177), “Wofford” (#67,176), “yaar” (#67,182). Among 1,759 “W” headwords, “woodchuck” is #67,178. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

woodchuck is uncommon English at frequency #67,178 among 1,759 “W” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈwʊd.t͡ʃʌk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots, Marmota monax.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for woodchuck, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Cree ocêk, otchek (“fisher”), Ojibwe ojiig (“fisher, marten”), or a similar term in a related Algonquian language, subsequently reapplied to the groundhog. An earlier form of this word, woodshock, still sometimes designates the marten. Also a … The correct English form is woodchuck, spelled W-O-O-D-C-H-U-C-K.

Definition

  1. 1
    A rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots, Marmota monax.

Etymology

Borrowed from Cree ocêk, otchek (“fisher”), Ojibwe ojiig (“fisher, marten”), or a similar term in a related Algonquian language, subsequently reapplied to the groundhog. An earlier form of this word, woodshock, still sometimes designates the marten. Also a doublet of wejack.

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); 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 "woodchuck"?
"woodchuck" is spelled W-O-O-D-C-H-U-C-K. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈwʊd.t͡ʃʌk/.
What does "woodchuck" mean?
As a noun, "woodchuck" means: A rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots, Marmota monax.
How do you pronounce "woodchuck"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "woodchuck" is /ˈwʊd.t͡ʃʌk/. 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 "woodchuck"?
Borrowed from Cree ocêk, otchek (“fisher”), Ojibwe ojiig (“fisher, marten”), or a similar term in a related Algonquian language, subsequently reapplied to the groundhog. An earlier form of this word, woodshock, still sometimes designates the marte... 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "woodchuck", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list