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” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #7,348. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#7,348
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
11
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - The chance of suffering harm; danger, peril, risk of loss.

Corpus desk

Index EN-hazard · hazard · English

hazard · rank #7,348 · 9 variants · 11 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #7,348
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 11 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH harbour

Nearest frequency peer: harbour (-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 “hazard”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “hazard” 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).

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.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around hazard (IPA /ˈhæzəd/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #7,348 among 2,646 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 10 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

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.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. He encountered the enemy at the hazard of his reputation and life.
  2. Men are led on from one stage of life to another in a condition of the utmost hazard.

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.

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 "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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "hazard", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

intact#7,351intake#7,352Lauren#7,357Martha#7,360

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

furious9 variantscocaine9 variantsporter9 variantscircus9 variants
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