hell
[hɛl]
The verdict
“hell” is a regularly-used German word, ranked #3,967 in German word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #3,967
- frequency rank, German
- 4
- letters
- 3
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - mit viel Licht erfüllt und damit leuchtend oder gut ausgeleuchtet
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
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for hell is 4 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [hɛl]. Corpus data places it at rank #3,967 in overall German word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
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
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “hell”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is H-E-L-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [hɛl] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “hl” - see the side-by-side comparison. hell vs hl
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German 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.