harry
/ˈhæɹ.i/
"harry" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“harry” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,943. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #1,943
- frequency rank, English
- 2,646
- “H” headwords
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To plunder, pillage, assault.
Corpus desk
Index EN-harry · harry · English
harry · rank #1,943 · 6 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #1,943
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 6 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,646
- PHOTO-FINISH fuel
Nearest frequency peer: fuel (-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 “harry”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- festival
festival
98,061 corpus weight
- flat
flat
98,060 corpus weight
- fuel
fuel
98,059 corpus weight
- harry
harry
98,058 corpus weight
- hello
hello
98,057 corpus weight
- houses
houses
98,056 corpus weight
What this shows “harry” 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 | harry |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈhæɹ.i/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #1,943 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “harry”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 6 spelling variants around harry (IPA /ˈhæɹ.i/), averb. Corpus frequency is #1,943 among 2,646 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for harry, with forms such as "ahrry", "harryy", and "hary". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "hay", "hart", "Herr", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English herien, harien, from Old English herġian, from Proto-West Germanic *harjōn, from Proto-Germanic *harjōną, from *harjaz (“army”), from Proto-Indo-European *koryos, from *ker- (“army”). Cognates See also Walloon hairyî, Old French hairier,… The correct English form is harry, spelled H-A-R-R-Y.
Definition
- 1To plunder, pillage, assault.
- 2To make repeated attacks on an enemy.
- 3To strip, lay waste, ravage.
- 4To harass, bother or distress with demands, threats, or criticism.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how harry appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
I repent me much , That so I harry'd him
'One kiss, my bonny sweetheart, I'm after a prize to-night, / But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light; / Yet, if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day, / Then look for me by moonlight, / Watch for me by moonlight, / I'll come to thee by moonlight, though Hell should bar the way.'
Etymology
From Middle English herien, harien, from Old English herġian, from Proto-West Germanic *harjōn, from Proto-Germanic *harjōną, from *harjaz (“army”), from Proto-Indo-European *koryos, from *ker- (“army”). Cognates See also Walloon hairyî, Old French hairier, harier; also Saterland Frisian ferheerje, German verheeren (“to harry, devastate”), Swedish härja (“ravage, harry”); also Old English here, West Frisian hear, Dutch heer, German Heer); also Middle Irish cuire (“army”), Lithuanian kãrias (“army; war”), Old Church Slavonic кара (kara, “strife”), Ancient Greek κοίρανος (koíranos, “chief, commander”), Old Persian [script needed] (kāra, “army”)). More at here (“army”).
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ahrry
- harryy
- hary
- haryr
- hharry
- hrary
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of harry - 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 "harry", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).