hammerhead
"hammerhead" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“hammerhead” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #42,686 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #42,686
- frequency rank, English
- 10
- letters
- 13
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The portion of a hammer containing the metal striking face (also including the claw or peen if so equipped).
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 | hammerhead |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #42,686 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “hammerhead” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for hammerhead is 10 letters long, classified as a noun. Corpus data places it at rank #42,686 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for hammerhead, with forms such as "ahmmerhead", "hamemrhead", and "hamerhead". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "hammered", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From hammer + head. The correct English form is hammerhead, spelled H-A-M-M-E-R-H-E-A-D.
Definition
- 1The portion of a hammer containing the metal striking face (also including the claw or peen if so equipped).
- 2Any organism with head shaped like that of a hammer:
- 3Any organism with head shaped like that of a hammer:
- 4Any organism with head shaped like that of a hammer:
- 5Any organism with head shaped like that of a hammer:
- 6A stupid person, a dunce.
- 7A turn-around; a parking area constructed in a subdivision for initial access and construction.
- 8A kind of ribozyme; hammerhead ribozyme.
Etymology
From hammer + head.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ahmmerhead,hamemrhead,hamerhead,hammehread,hammerehad,hammerhaed,hammerheadd,hammerheda,hammerhhead,hammerrhead,hammrehead,hhammerhead,hmamerhead
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of hammerhead - 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 "hammerhead"?
What does "hammerhead" mean?
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Using “hammerhead”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is H-A-M-M-E-R-H-E-A-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Don't mix it up with “hammered” - see the side-by-side comparison. hammerhead vs hammered
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English 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.