downhill
/ˈdaʊnˌhɪl/
"downhill" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“downhill” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #11,880. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #11,880
- frequency rank, English
- 3,470
- “D” headwords
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Down a slope.
Corpus desk
Index EN-downhill · downhill · English
downhill · rank #11,880 · 11 variants · 1 confusable
- FREQ-MID #11,880
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
- VAR-MID 11 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,470
- PHOTO-FINISH dominion
Nearest frequency peer: dominion (-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.
Rank peers near misspelling magnet “downhill”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- disregard
disregard
88,124 corpus weight
- distributor
distributor
88,123 corpus weight
- dominion
dominion
88,122 corpus weight
- downhill
downhill
88,121 corpus weight
- dreadful
dreadful
88,119 corpus weight
- drunken
drunken
88,118 corpus weight
What this shows “downhill” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
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 | downhill |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | /ˈdaʊnˌhɪl/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #11,880 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “downhill”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 11 spelling variants around downhill (IPA /ˈdaʊnˌhɪl/), anadverb. Corpus frequency is #11,880 among 3,470 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for downhill, with forms such as "ddownhill", "donwhill", and "dowhnill". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "downfall", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From down- + hill. The correct English form is downhill, spelled D-O-W-N-H-I-L-L.
Definition
- 1Down a slope.
- 2So as to deteriorate or get worse.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how downhill appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Because we got to the summit of the mountain, we could only go downhill from there.
I worked my way downhill, slip sliding in the mud along a steep embankment that followed a stream until it emptied into a creek.
Etymology
From down- + hill.
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ddownhill
- donwhill
- dowhnill
- downhhill
- downhil
- downhlil
- downihll
- downnhill
- dowwnhill
- dwonhill
- odwnhill
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of downhill - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "downhill"?
What does "downhill" mean?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "downhill", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).