wreak
/ɹiːk/
"wreak" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“wreak” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #31,415 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #31,415
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 14
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To cause harm; to afflict; to inflict; to harm or injure; to let out harm.
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 | wreak |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ɹiːk/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #31,415 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 14 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “wreak” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for wreak is 5 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɹiːk/. Corpus data places it at rank #31,415 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 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for wreak, with forms such as "rweak", "werak", and "wraek". 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 14 confusable-pair relationships, "wren", "wreck", "wrest", 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 wreken, from Old English wrecan, from Proto-West Germanic *wrekan, from Proto-Germanic *wrekaną, from Proto-Indo-European *wreg- (“push, shove, drive, track down”). Cognate via Proto-Germanic with Dutch wreken, German rächen, Swedish vrä… The correct English form is wreak, spelled W-R-E-A-K.
Definition
- 1To cause harm; to afflict; to inflict; to harm or injure; to let out harm.
- 2To chasten, or chastise/chastize, or castigate, or punish, or smite.
- 3To inflict or take vengeance on.
- 4To take vengeance for.
- 5Misspelling of reek.
Etymology
From Middle English wreken, from Old English wrecan, from Proto-West Germanic *wrekan, from Proto-Germanic *wrekaną, from Proto-Indo-European *wreg- (“push, shove, drive, track down”). Cognate via Proto-Germanic with Dutch wreken, German rächen, Swedish vräka; cognate via PIE with Latin urgēre (English urge), and distantly cognate with English wreck.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: rweak,werak,wraek,wreakk,wreka,wrreak,wwreak
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of wreak - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "wreak"?
What does "wreak" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "wreak"?
How do you pronounce "wreak"?
What is the origin of the word "wreak"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “wreak”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is W-R-E-A-K - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɹiːk/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “wren” - see the side-by-side comparison. wreak vs wren
- 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.