ahem
/əˈhɛm/
"ahem" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ahem” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #20,828. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #20,828
- frequency rank, English
- 3,931
- “A” headwords
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The sound of a quiet cough or of clearing one's throat.
Corpus desk
Index EN-ahem · ahem · English
ahem · rank #20,828 · 5 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #20,828
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 5 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,931
- PHOTO-FINISH aggregation
Nearest frequency peer: aggregation (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
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 “ahem”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- accommodati…
accommodating
79,176 corpus weight
- aggregation
aggregation
79,174 corpus weight
- ahem
ahem
79,173 corpus weight
- Albanian
Albanian
79,172 corpus weight
- Alistair
Alistair
79,171 corpus weight
- alkaline
alkaline
79,170 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “ahem” sits against the nearest ranked English 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 | ahem |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Interjection |
| IPA | /əˈhɛm/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #20,828 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “ahem” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 5 spelling variants around ahem (IPA /əˈhɛm/), aninterjection. Corpus frequency is #20,828 among 3,931 “A” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for ahem, with forms such as "aehm", "ahemm", and "ahhem". 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, "AM", "are", "arm", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Onomatopoeic. The correct English form is ahem, spelled A-H-E-M.
Definition
- 1The sound of a quiet cough or of clearing one's throat.
- 2Demanding attention.
- 3Expresses disapproval or annoyance.
- 4Indicates the speaker does not wish to be perceived as rude, often intimating an impolite meaning to a third party that the speaker is not addressing.
- 5Indicates the speaker does not wish to be perceived as rude, often intimating an impolite meaning to a third party that the speaker is not addressing.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how ahem appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Ahem! Could we please get started?
Enter Nobody, and the Clowne. / Nobody. Ahem boy, Nobody is ſound yet for all his troubles.
Etymology
Onomatopoeic.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- aehm
- ahemm
- ahhem
- ahme
- haem
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of ahem - 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 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "ahem"?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "ahem", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "ahem". Here's where to go from here.
- "ahem" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "AM". View pair
- 5 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #20,828 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "A" letter cohort. A–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
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.