haugh

/hɔː/

//hɔː// noun

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

The verdict

“haugh” is uncommon English (frequency #81,392 among 2,646 “H” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#81,392
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A low-lying meadow by the side of a river.

Corpus desk

Index EN-haugh · haugh · English

haugh · rank #81,392 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #81,392
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH Hastie

Nearest frequency peer: Hastie (-2 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.

Long-tail ranks near “haugh”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “haugh” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for haugh
PropertyValue
Headwordhaugh
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/hɔː/
Letters5
Frequency rank#81,392
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “haugh” in English

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).haughfalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “Hastie” (#81,390), “harr” (#81,389), “Hebden” (#81,397). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “haugh” is #81,392. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

haugh is uncommon English at frequency #81,392 among 2,646 “H” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /hɔː/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A low-lying meadow by the side of a river.".

haugh doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Northern English dialectal and Scots haugh, from Northern Middle English *halgh, from Old English healh (“corner, nook”), from Proto-West Germanic *halh. Doublet of hale. The correct English form is haugh, spelled H-A-U-G-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    A low-lying meadow by the side of a river.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The sheriff of the county of Lanark was holding the wappen-schaw of a wild district, called the Upper Ward of Clydesdale, on a haugh, or level plain, near to a royal borough, […]
  2. The position of the playfield is here identified as lying north of this open space between it and the burn, and occupying the haugh which extended west […]

Etymology

From Northern English dialectal and Scots haugh, from Northern Middle English *halgh, from Old English healh (“corner, nook”), from Proto-West Germanic *halh. Doublet of hale.

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 "haugh"?
"haugh" is spelled H-A-U-G-H. The IPA pronunciation is /hɔː/.
What does "haugh" mean?
As a noun, "haugh" means: A low-lying meadow by the side of a river.
How do you pronounce "haugh"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "haugh" is /hɔː/. 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 "haugh"?
From Northern English dialectal and Scots haugh, from Northern Middle English *halgh, from Old English healh (“corner, nook”), from Proto-West Germanic *halh. Doublet of hale. 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 "haugh", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list