heimlich

[ˈhaɪ̯mlɪç]

/[ˈhaɪ̯mlɪç]/ adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“heimlich” has 12 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #5,378. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,378
frequency rank, German
3,372
“H” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
7
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - im Verborgenen, ohne das Wissen anderer

Corpus desk

Index DE-heimlich · heimlich · German

heimlich · rank #5,378 · 12 variants · 7 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,378
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 7 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,372
  • PHOTO-FINISH hebt

Nearest frequency peer: hebt (-1 rank slots)

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.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „heimlich“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

What this shows „heimlich“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

heimlich vs Heinrich
63% similar
heimlich vs herzlich
75% similar
heimlich vs herrlich
75% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for heimlich
PropertyValue
Headwordheimlich
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAdjective
IPA[ˈhaɪ̯mlɪç]
Letters8
Frequency rank#5,378
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs7
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „heimlich“

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.heimlichliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „hebt“ (#5,377), „hingewiesen“ (#5,379), „have“ (#5,376). Unter 3,372 „H“-Lemmata liegt „heimlich“ bei #5,378. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around heimlich (IPA [ˈhaɪ̯mlɪç]), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #5,378 among 3,372 “H” headwords. Dominant gloss: "im Verborgenen, ohne das Wissen anderer".

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for heimlich, with forms such as "ehimlich", "heilmich", and "heimilch". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 7 confusable-pair relationships, "Heinrich", "herzlich", "herrlich", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct German form is heimlich, spelled H-E-I-M-L-I-C-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    im Verborgenen, ohne das Wissen anderer

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how heimlich appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Während der Arbeit benutzte Matthias heimlich das Internet.
  2. Die heimliche Affäre des Präsidenten wurde nun doch öffentlich.

Synonyms

verstecktgeheimverborgenklammheimlich

Antonyms

öffentlichoffensichtlich

This word in other languages

secret(English)clandestino(Español)clandestin(Français)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ehimlich
  • heilmich
  • heimilch
  • heimlcih
  • heimlicch
  • heimlichh
  • heimlihc
  • heimllich
  • heimmlich
  • hemilich
  • hheimlich
  • hiemlich

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of heimlich - 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.

ehimlich2heilmich2heimilch2heimlcih2heimlicch1heimlichh1heimlihc2heimllich1
Edit distance from "heimlich"

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 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "heimlich"?
"heimlich" is spelled H-E-I-M-L-I-C-H. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈhaɪ̯mlɪç].
What does "heimlich" mean?
As an adjective, "heimlich" means: im Verborgenen, ohne das Wissen anderer
What words are commonly confused with "heimlich"?
"heimlich" is commonly confused with "Heinrich", "herzlich", "herrlich". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "heimlich"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "heimlich" is [ˈhaɪ̯mlɪç]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "heimlich" come from?
"heimlich" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 German words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

geschaut#5,370Kandidat#5,386Kommende#5,390Einblick#5,353

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

besuchte12 variantsabwarten12 variantsSchrank12 variantssteigern12 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list