hmmm
[ɦmmm]
The verdict
“hmmm” is a moderately-common German word, ranked #13,625 in German word frequency and used as an interjection.
- #13,625
- frequency rank, German
- 4
- letters
- 2
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - zur Überbrückung einer Denkpause eingesetzter Verzögerungslaut
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 | hmmm |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Interjection |
| IPA | [ɦmmm] |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #13,625 |
| Misspellings tracked | 2 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “hmmm” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for hmmm is 4 letters long, classified as an interjection, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ɦmmm]. Corpus data places it at rank #13,625 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "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
- 1zur Überbrückung einer Denkpause eingesetzter Verzögerungslaut
This word in other languages
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.
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 “hmmm”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is H-M-M-M - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ɦmmm] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “hom” - see the side-by-side comparison. hmmm vs hom
- 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.