hammer
/ˈhæm.ə(ɹ)/
"hammer" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“hammer” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,501. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #5,501
- frequency rank, English
- 2,646
- “H” headwords
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A tool with a heavy head and a handle used for pounding.
Corpus desk
Index EN-hammer · hammer · English
hammer · rank #5,501 · 6 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #5,501
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 6 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,646
- PHOTO-FINISH Halloween
Nearest frequency peer: Halloween (-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 “hammer”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- gentleman
gentleman
94,503 corpus weight
- GM
GM
94,502 corpus weight
- Halloween
Halloween
94,501 corpus weight
- hammer
hammer
94,500 corpus weight
- Hitler
Hitler
94,499 corpus weight
- hosting
hosting
94,498 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “hammer” 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 | hammer |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈhæm.ə(ɹ)/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #5,501 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “hammer” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 6 spelling variants around hammer (IPA /ˈhæm.ə(ɹ)/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #5,501 among 2,646 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 13 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for hammer, with forms such as "ahmmer", "hamemr", and "hammerr". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "homer", "hater", "Homme", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English hamer, from Old English hamor, from Proto-West Germanic *hamar, from Proto-Germanic *hamaraz (“tool with a stone head”) (compare West Frisian hammer, Low German Hamer, Dutch hamer, German Hammer, Danish hammer, Swedish hammare). This is … The correct English form is hammer, spelled H-A-M-M-E-R.
Definition
- 1A tool with a heavy head and a handle used for pounding.
- 2The act of using a hammer to hit something.
- 3The malleus, a small bone of the middle ear.
- 4In a piano or dulcimer, a piece of wood covered in felt that strikes the string.
- 5A device made of a heavy steel ball attached to a length of wire, and used for throwing.
- 6The last stone in an end.
- 7A frisbee throw in which the disc is held upside-down with a forehand grip and thrown forwards above the head.
- 8Part of a clock that strikes upon a bell to indicate the hour.
- 9One who, or that which, smites or shatters.
- 10Ellipsis of hammer headline.
- 11The accelerator pedal.
- 12A moving part of a firearm that strikes the firing pin to discharge a gun.
- 13A handgun.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how hammer appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Bobby used a hammer and nails to fix the two planks together
The nail is too loose—give it a hammer.
Etymology
From Middle English hamer, from Old English hamor, from Proto-West Germanic *hamar, from Proto-Germanic *hamaraz (“tool with a stone head”) (compare West Frisian hammer, Low German Hamer, Dutch hamer, German Hammer, Danish hammer, Swedish hammare). This is traditionally ascribed to Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱmoros, from *h₂éḱmō (“stone”), but see *hamaraz for further discussion. (declare a defaulter on the stock exchange): Originally signalled by knocking with a wooden mallet.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ahmmer
- hamemr
- hammerr
- hammre
- hhammer
- hmamer
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of hammer - 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 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "hammer", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "hammer". Here's where to go from here.
- "hammer" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "homer". View pair
- 6 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #5,501 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "H" letter cohort. H–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.