hell
[hɛl]
The verdict
“hell” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #3,967) as an adjective. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.
- #3,967
- frequency rank, German
- 3,372
- “H” headwords
- 3
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - mit viel Licht erfüllt und damit leuchtend oder gut ausgeleuchtet
Corpus desk
Index DE-hell · hell · German
hell · rank #3,967 · 3 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #3,967
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-LOW 3 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,372
- PHOTO-FINISH HSV
Nearest frequency peer: HSV (+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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “hell”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- geschützt
geschützt
96,037 corpus weight
- grab
grab
96,036 corpus weight
- hell
hell
96,034 corpus weight
- HSV
HSV
96,033 corpus weight
- hübsch
hübsch
96,032 corpus weight
- Institution…
Institutionen
96,031 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “hell” sits against the nearest ranked German 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 | hell |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | [hɛl] |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #3,967 |
| Misspellings tracked | 3 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “hell” sits in German frequency
Easy to mix with look-alikes
The spelling risk for hell is neighbouring look-alikes ("hl", "her", …), not just typos; it is anadjective pronounced [hɛl]. Frequency #3,967 among 3,372 “H” headwords. 6 recorded senses keep meaning in play.
Our generated misspelling index lists 3 likely wrong-spelling variants for hell, with forms such as "ehll", "hhell", and "hlel". 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, "hl", "her", "hey", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct German form is hell, spelled H-E-L-L.
Definition
- 1mit viel Licht erfüllt und damit leuchtend oder gut ausgeleuchtet
- 2schnell denkend und von guter Auffassungsgabe
- 3einen hohen Weißanteil und wenig Farben aufweisend
- 4ein phonetisches/phonologisches Merkmal, das die vorderen Vokale besitzen, aufweisend
- 5hoch tönend
- 6eindeutig und ungetrübt so seiend
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how hell appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Er steht im hellen Sonnenlicht.
Lass uns an einen helleren Ort gehen, wo ich die Verzierungsdetails besser sehen kann.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ehll
- hhell
- hlel
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of hell - 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 German 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 September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "hell"?
What does "hell" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "hell"?
How do you pronounce "hell"?
What language does "hell" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar German words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "hell", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked German headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
What to do next
You've looked up "hell". Here's where to go from here.
- "hell" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "hl". View pair
- 3 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #3,967 among German headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more German words in the "H" letter cohort. H–Z browse
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
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.