headstrong
"headstrong" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“headstrong” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #42,173 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #42,173
- frequency rank, English
- 10
- letters
- 16
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Determined to do as one pleases, and not as others want.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | headstrong |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #42,173 |
| Misspellings tracked | 16 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “headstrong” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for headstrong is 10 letters long, classified as an adjective. Corpus data places it at rank #42,173 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Determined to do as one pleases, and not as others want.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 16 likely wrong-spelling variants for headstrong, with forms such as "ehadstrong", "haedstrong", and "headdstrong". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "headstone", 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 heedstrong, equivalent to head + strong. The correct English form is headstrong, spelled H-E-A-D-S-T-R-O-N-G.
Definition
- 1Determined to do as one pleases, and not as others want.
Etymology
From Middle English heedstrong, equivalent to head + strong.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ehadstrong,haedstrong,headdstrong,headsrtong,headsstrong,headstorng,headstrnog,headstrogn,headstrongg,headstronng,headstrrong,headsttrong,headtsrong,heasdtrong,hedastrong,hheadstrong
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of headstrong - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 "headstrong"?
What does "headstrong" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "headstrong"?
What is the origin of the word "headstrong"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “headstrong”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is H-E-A-D-S-T-R-O-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Don't mix it up with “headstone” - see the side-by-side comparison. headstrong vs headstone
- 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.