hmmm

[ɦmmm]

/[ɦmmm]/ intj

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

The verdict

“hmmm” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #13,625) as an interjection. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#13,625
frequency rank, German
3,372
“H” headwords
2
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - zur Überbrückung einer Denkpause eingesetzter Verzögerungslaut

Corpus desk

Index DE-hmmm · hmmm · German

hmmm · rank #13,625 · 2 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #13,625
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-0 0 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 2 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,372
  • PHOTO-FINISH Hochzeiten

Nearest frequency peer: Hochzeiten (+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.

Häufigkeitsnachbarn des Verwechslers „hmmm“

Peers mit ähnlichem Corpus-Gewicht, getrennt von den Verwechslungspaaren unten

corpus weight

What this shows Balken platzieren „hmmm“ gegen die nächsten gerankten deutschen Lemmata, kein Reprint der Verwechslungsdesk.

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).

hmmm vs hom
50% similar
hmmm vs hum
50% similar
hmmm vs home
50% similar

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

Key facts for hmmm
PropertyValue
Headwordhmmm
LanguageGerman
Part of speechInterjection
IPA[ɦmmm]
Letters4
Frequency rank#13,625
Misspellings tracked2
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus-Rang neben Verwechslern von „hmmm“

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.hmmmliegt auf dieser Marke:

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „Hochzeiten“ (#13,626), „Hansestadt“ (#13,623), „Holländer“ (#13,627). Unter 3,372 „H“-Lemmata liegt „hmmm“ bei #13,625. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for hmmm is neighbouring look-alikes ("hom", "hum", …), not just typos; it is aninterjection pronounced [ɦmmm]. Frequency #13,625 among 3,372 “H” headwords. Gloss: "zur Überbrückung einer Denkpause eingesetzter Verzögerungslaut".

Our generated misspelling index lists 2 likely wrong-spelling variants for hmmm, including "hhmmm" and "mhmm". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "hom", "hum", "home", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, 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 hmmm, spelled H-M-M-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    zur Überbrückung einer Denkpause eingesetzter Verzögerungslaut

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. „Hmmm… je to přesně… šest tisíc.“

This word in other languages

hmmm(English)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • hhmmm
  • mhmm

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

hhmmm1mhmm2
Edit distance from "hmmm"

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 "hmmm"?
"hmmm" is spelled H-M-M-M. The IPA pronunciation is [ɦmmm].
What does "hmmm" mean?
As an interjection, "hmmm" means: zur Überbrückung einer Denkpause eingesetzter Verzögerungslaut
What words are commonly confused with "hmmm"?
"hmmm" is commonly confused with "hom", "hum", "home". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "hmmm"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "hmmm" is [ɦmmm]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "hmmm" come from?
"hmmm" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 "hmmm", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Inge#13,631Khan#13,638neos#13,662Pakt#13,665

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list