hazard

/ˈhæzəd/

//ˈhæzəd// noun

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

"hazard" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“hazard” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #7,348 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#7,348
frequency rank, English
6
letters
9
tracked misspellings
11
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The chance of suffering harm; danger, peril, risk of loss.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

hazard vs heard
67% similar
hazard vs hoard
67% similar
hazard vs Howard
50% similar

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

Key facts for hazard
PropertyValue
Headwordhazard
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈhæzəd/
Letters6
Frequency rank#7,348
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs11
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “hazard” 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). hazard lands here:

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

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

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for hazard is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈhæzəd/. Corpus data places it at rank #7,348 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 10 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for hazard, with forms such as "ahzard", "haazrd", and "hazadr". 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 11 confusable-pair relationships, "heard", "hoard", "Howard", 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 hasard, from Old French hasart (“a game of dice”) (noun), hasarder (verb), from Arabic اَلزَّهْر (az-zahr, “the dice”). Compare Spanish azar, Portuguese azar. The correct English form is hazard, spelled H-A-Z-A-R-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    The chance of suffering harm; danger, peril, risk of loss.
  2. 2
    An obstacle or other feature which causes risk or danger; originally in sports, and now applied more generally.
  3. 3
    An obstacle or other feature that presents a risk or danger that justifies the driver in taking action to avoid it.
  4. 4
    A sand or water obstacle on a golf course.
  5. 5
    The act of potting a ball, whether the object ball (winning hazard) or the player's ball (losing hazard).
  6. 6
    A game of chance played with dice, usually for monetary stakes; popular mainly from 14th c. to 19th c.
  7. 7
    Chance.
  8. 8
    Anything that is hazarded or risked, such as a stake in gambling.
  9. 9
    The side of the court into which the ball is served.
  10. 10
    A problem with the instruction pipeline in CPU microarchitectures when the next instruction cannot execute in the following clock cycle, potentially leading to incorrect results.

Etymology

From Middle English hasard, from Old French hasart (“a game of dice”) (noun), hasarder (verb), from Arabic اَلزَّهْر (az-zahr, “the dice”). Compare Spanish azar, Portuguese azar.

Synonyms

fortuneluckadventurebetpledgeskin in the gamewager

This word in other languages

riesgo(Español)hasard(Français)Zufall(Deutsch)risco(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ahzard,haazrd,hazadr,hazardd,hazarrd,hazrad,hazzard,hhazard,hzaard

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ahzard2haazrd2hazadr2hazardd1hazarrd1hazrad2hazzard1hhazard1
Edit distance from "hazard"

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 "hazard"?
"hazard" is spelled H-A-Z-A-R-D. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈhæzəd/.
What does "hazard" mean?
As a noun, "hazard" means: The chance of suffering harm; danger, peril, risk of loss.
What words are commonly confused with "hazard"?
"hazard" is commonly confused with "heard", "hoard", "Howard". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "hazard"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "hazard" is /ˈhæzəd/. 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 "hazard"?
From Middle English hasard, from Old French hasart (“a game of dice”) (noun), hasarder (verb), from Arabic اَلزَّهْر (az-zahr, “the dice”). Compare Spanish azar, Portuguese azar. 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.

Using “hazard”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is H-A-Z-A-R-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ˈhæzəd/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “heard” - see the side-by-side comparison. hazard vs heard
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list