hasty

/ˈheɪsti/

//ˈheɪsti// adj

"hasty" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“hasty” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #19,854. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#19,854
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - Acting or done in haste; hurried or too quick; speedy due to having little time.

Corpus desk

Index EN-hasty · hasty · English

hasty · rank #19,854 · 8 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #19,854
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH Hathaway

Nearest frequency peer: Hathaway (+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 “hasty”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “hasty” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 2, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

hasty vs hat
60% similar
hasty vs hay
60% similar
hasty vs hate
60% similar

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

Key facts for hasty
PropertyValue
Headwordhasty
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈheɪsti/
Letters5
Frequency rank#19,854
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “hasty” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). hasty lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around hasty (IPA /ˈheɪsti/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #19,854 among 2,646 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 8 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for hasty, with forms such as "ahsty", "hassty", and "hastty". 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, "hat", "hay", "hate", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English hasty, of obscure origin. Likely a new formation in Middle English equivalent to haste + -y, found as in other Germanic languages (Old Frisian hâstich, Middle Dutch haestich (> Dutch haastig (“hasty”)), Middle Low German hastich (“hasty”… The correct English form is hasty, spelled H-A-S-T-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Acting or done in haste; hurried or too quick; speedy due to having little time.
  2. 2
    Acting or done in haste; hurried or too quick; speedy due to having little time.
  3. 3
    Acting or done in haste; hurried or too quick; speedy due to having little time.
  4. 4
    Acting or done in haste; hurried or too quick; speedy due to having little time.
  5. 5
    Acting or done in haste; hurried or too quick; speedy due to having little time.
  6. 6
    Speedy, quick, rapid (without necessarily lacking time).
  7. 7
    Irritable, irascible; quickly or easily excited to anger.
  8. 8
    Heavy, violent.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Without much thinking about it they made a hasty decision to buy it.
  2. If there bee any lasie fellow, any that cannot away with worke, any that would wallow in pleasures, hee is hastie to be priested. And when hee is made one, and has gotten a benefice, he consorts with his neighbour priests, who are altogether given to pleasures; and then both hee, and they, live, not like Christians, but like epicures; drinking, eating, fe…

Etymology

From Middle English hasty, of obscure origin. Likely a new formation in Middle English equivalent to haste + -y, found as in other Germanic languages (Old Frisian hâstich, Middle Dutch haestich (> Dutch haastig (“hasty”)), Middle Low German hastich (“hasty”), German hastig, Danish hastig, Swedish hastig (“hasty”)); otherwise possibly representing an assimilation to the foregoing of Middle English hastive, hastif (> English hastive), from Old French hastif (Modern French hâtif), from Frankish *haifst (“violence”), ultimately of the same Germanic origin.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ahsty
  • hassty
  • hastty
  • hastyy
  • hasyt
  • hatsy
  • hhasty
  • hsaty

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of hasty - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ahsty2hassty1hastty1hastyy1hasyt2hatsy2hhasty1hsaty2
Edit distance from "hasty"

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "hasty"?
"hasty" is spelled H-A-S-T-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈheɪsti/.
What does "hasty" mean?
As an adjective, "hasty" means: Acting or done in haste; hurried or too quick; speedy due to having little time.
What words are commonly confused with "hasty"?
"hasty" is commonly confused with "hat", "hay", "hate". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "hasty"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "hasty" is /ˈheɪsti/. 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 "hasty"?
From Middle English hasty, of obscure origin. Likely a new formation in Middle English equivalent to haste + -y, found as in other Germanic languages (Old Frisian hâstich, Middle Dutch haestich (> Dutch haastig (“hasty”)), Middle Low German hastic... 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 "hasty", 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 (8 here; floor ≥5).

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list