headphone

/ˈhɛdfəʊn/

//ˈhɛdfəʊn// noun

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

"headphone" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“headphone” has 13 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #19,612. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#19,612
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords
13
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - singular of headphones: a cushioned speaker placed on, over, or inside the ear, normally used in left and right pairs.

Corpus desk

Index EN-headphone · headphone · English

headphone · rank #19,612 · 13 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #19,612
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 13 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH Heinrich

Nearest frequency peer: Heinrich (+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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “headphone”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “headphone” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

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).

headphone vs headstone
78% similar
headphone vs headphones
90% similar

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

Key facts for headphone
PropertyValue
Headwordheadphone
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈhɛdfəʊn/
Letters9
Frequency rank#19,612
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “headphone”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).headphonelands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “Heinrich” (#19,613), “hastily” (#19,610), “Hemingway” (#19,614). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “headphone” is #19,612. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 13 spelling variants around headphone (IPA /ˈhɛdfəʊn/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #19,612 among 2,646 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for headphone, with forms such as "ehadphone", "haedphone", and "headdphone". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "headstone", "headphones", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From head + phone. The correct English form is headphone, spelled H-E-A-D-P-H-O-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    singular of headphones: a cushioned speaker placed on, over, or inside the ear, normally used in left and right pairs.
  2. 2
    Used with headphones.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Some joggers wear only one headphone in their ears, to enjoy music while paying attention to their environment.
  2. From "Little" Louie Vega, David Camacho, and Tyrone Francis I learned about seamless beatmixing, using a so-called lollipop headphone for one ear and a monitor speaker for the other.

Etymology

From head + phone.

This word in other languages

audífono(Español)écouteur(Français)Kopfhörer(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ehadphone
  • haedphone
  • headdphone
  • headhpone
  • headphhone
  • headphnoe
  • headphoen
  • headphonne
  • headpohne
  • headpphone
  • heapdhone
  • hedaphone
  • hheadphone

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ehadphone2haedphone2headdphone1headhpone2headphhone1headphnoe2headphoen2headphonne1
Edit distance from "headphone"

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 "headphone"?
"headphone" is spelled H-E-A-D-P-H-O-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈhɛdfəʊn/.
What does "headphone" mean?
As a noun, "headphone" means: singular of headphones: a cushioned speaker placed on, over, or inside the ear, normally used in left and right pairs.
What words are commonly confused with "headphone"?
"headphone" is commonly confused with "headstone", "headphones". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "headphone"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "headphone" is /ˈhɛdfəʊn/. 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 "headphone"?
From head + phone. 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 "headphone", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Hemingway#19,614Inverness#19,623fifteenth#19,597Knoxville#19,631

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).

hallelujah13 variantsmargarita13 variantsdepressive13 variantspedophile13 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list