hair

/hɛə/

//hɛə// noun

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

"hair" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“hair” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #876) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#876
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A pigmented filament of keratin which grows from a follicle on the skin of humans and other mammals.

Corpus desk

Index EN-hair · hair · English

hair · rank #876 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #876
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH foreign

Nearest frequency peer: foreign (-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 neighbours of confusable “hair”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “hair” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

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).

hair vs hi
50% similar
hair vs HR
0% similar
hair vs his
50% similar

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

Key facts for hair
PropertyValue
Headwordhair
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/hɛə/
Letters4
Frequency rank#876
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “hair”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).hairlands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “foreign” (#875), “increase” (#877), “financial” (#874). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “hair” is #876. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for hair is neighbouring look-alikes ("hi", "HR", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /hɛə/. Frequency #876 among 2,646 “H” headwords. 9 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for hair, with forms such as "ahir", "hairr", and "hhair". 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, "hi", "HR", "his", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English her, heer, hær, from Old English hǣr, from Proto-West Germanic *hār, from Proto-Germanic *hērą (“hair”), from Proto-Indo-European *kes- (“to scrape, comb”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Hier, Híer (“hair”), West Frisian hier (“hair”), … The correct English form is hair, spelled H-A-I-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    A pigmented filament of keratin which grows from a follicle on the skin of humans and other mammals.
  2. 2
    The collection or mass of such growths growing from the skin of humans and animals, and forming a covering for any part or the whole body.
  3. 3
    Specifically, the collection of hairs on the top and sides of the human head, growing from the scalp.
  4. 4
    A slender outgrowth from the chitinous cuticle of insects, spiders, crustaceans, and other invertebrates. Such hairs are totally unlike those of vertebrates in structure, composition, and mode of growth.
  5. 5
    A cellular outgrowth of the epidermis, consisting of one or of several cells, whether pointed, hooked, knobbed, or stellated.
  6. 6
    Any slender, flexible outgrowth, filament, or fiber growing or projecting from the surface of an object or organism.
  7. 7
    A locking spring or other safety device in the lock of a rifle, etc., capable of being released by a slight pressure on a hair-trigger.
  8. 8
    Any very small distance, or degree; a hairbreadth.
  9. 9
    Complexity; difficulty; the quality of being hairy.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. And draweth new delights with hoary hairs.
  2. Threading its way out from among his grey hairs, and continuing right down one side of his tawny scorched face and neck, till it disappeared in his clothing, you saw a slender rod-like mark, lividly whitish.

Etymology

From Middle English her, heer, hær, from Old English hǣr, from Proto-West Germanic *hār, from Proto-Germanic *hērą (“hair”), from Proto-Indo-European *kes- (“to scrape, comb”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Hier, Híer (“hair”), West Frisian hier (“hair”), Cimbrian haar, har (“hair”), Dutch haar (“hair”), German and Low German Haar (“hair”), Luxembourgish Hoer (“hair”), Mòcheno hor (“hair”), Yiddish האָר (hor, “hair”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish hår (“hair”), Faroese and Icelandic hár (“hair”). Eclipsed non-native Middle English cheveler, chevelere (“hair”), borrowed from Old French chevelëure (“hair, head-hair, coiffure, wig”). The modern spelling with ai is not a regular representation of the vowel developed from Middle English. Rather, it is from Middle English here (haircloth) influenced by Old French haire.

This word in other languages

pelo(Español)poil(Français)Haar(Deutsch)pelo(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ahir
  • hairr
  • hhair
  • hiar

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ahir2hairr1hhair1hiar2
Edit distance from "hair"

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 "hair"?
"hair" is spelled H-A-I-R. The IPA pronunciation is /hɛə/.
What does "hair" mean?
As a noun, "hair" means: A pigmented filament of keratin which grows from a follicle on the skin of humans and other mammals.
What words are commonly confused with "hair"?
"hair" is commonly confused with "hi", "HR", "his". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "hair"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "hair" is /hɛə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "hair"?
From Middle English her, heer, hær, from Old English hǣr, from Proto-West Germanic *hār, from Proto-Germanic *hērą (“hair”), from Proto-Indo-European *kes- (“to scrape, comb”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Hier, Híer (“hair”), West Frisian hier ... See the full etymology section above for more details.
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 English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "hair", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

lose#879pick#881race#882door#869

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list