hate

/heʔ/

//heʔ// noun

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

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

The verdict

“hate” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #807. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#807
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An object of hatred.

Corpus desk

Index EN-hate · hate · English

hate · rank #807 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #807
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH football

Nearest frequency peer: football (-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 “hate”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “hate” 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 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

hate vs he
50% similar
hate vs hit
50% similar
hate vs hot
50% similar

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

Key facts for hate
PropertyValue
Headwordhate
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/heʔ/
Letters4
Frequency rank#807
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “hate” sits in English frequency

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).hatelands 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 “football” (#806), “haven't” (#808), “cup” (#805). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around hate (IPA /heʔ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #807 among 2,646 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for hate, with forms such as "ahte", "haet", and "hatte". 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, "he", "hit", "hot", 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 hate (noun), probably from Old English hatian (“to hate”, verb) and/or Old Norse hatr (“hate”, noun). Merged with Middle English hete, hæte, heate (“hate”), from Old English hete, from Proto-Germanic *hataz (“hatred, hate”), from Proto-I… The correct English form is hate, spelled H-A-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    An object of hatred.
  2. 2
    Hatred.
  3. 3
    Negative feedback, abusive behaviour.
  4. 4
    Bigotry.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. One of my pet hates is traffic wardens.
  2. He gave me a look filled with pure hate.

Etymology

From Middle English hate (noun), probably from Old English hatian (“to hate”, verb) and/or Old Norse hatr (“hate”, noun). Merged with Middle English hete, hæte, heate (“hate”), from Old English hete, from Proto-Germanic *hataz (“hatred, hate”), from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂d- (“strong emotion”). Cognate with Dutch haat (“hatred”), German Hass, Haß (“hate, hatred”), Luxembourgish Haass (“hate, hatred”), Vilamovian hās (“hate, hatred”), Yiddish האַס (has, “hatred”), Danish had (“hate, hatred”), Faroese, Icelandic hatur (“hatred, spite, aversion”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish hat (“hate, hatred”), Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐍄𐌹𐍃 (hatis, “hate, wrath”). The verb is from Middle English haten, from Old English hatian (“to hate, treat as an enemy”), from Proto-West Germanic *hatēn, from Proto-Germanic *hatāną (“to hate”), from Proto-Germanic *hataz, from the same root as above.

This word in other languages

hate(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ahte
  • haet
  • hatte
  • hhate
  • htae

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ahte2haet2hatte1hhate1htae2
Edit distance from "hate"

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 "hate"?
"hate" is spelled H-A-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is /heʔ/.
What does "hate" mean?
As a noun, "hate" means: An object of hatred.
What words are commonly confused with "hate"?
"hate" is commonly confused with "he", "hit", "hot". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "hate"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "hate" is /heʔ/. 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 "hate"?
From Middle English hate (noun), probably from Old English hatian (“to hate”, verb) and/or Old Norse hatr (“hate”, noun). Merged with Middle English hete, hæte, heate (“hate”), from Old English hete, from Proto-Germanic *hataz (“hatred, hate”), fr... 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 "hate", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

upon#798send#817vote#820paid#792

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).

page5 variantssize5 variantsfast5 variantsblue5 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "hate". Here's where to go from here.

  • "hate" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "he". View pair
  • 5 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #807 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list