hear
/ˈhɪə/
"hear" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“hear” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #588 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #588
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 4
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To perceive sounds through the ear.
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 | hear |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈhɪə/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #588 |
| Misspellings tracked | 4 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “hear” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for hear is 4 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈhɪə/. Corpus data places it at rank #588 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 9 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for hear, with forms such as "ehar", "haer", and "hearr". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "HR", "her", "hey", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h₂ṓws Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *h₂ḱh₂owsyéti Proto-Germanic *hauzijaną Proto-West Germanic *hauʀijan Old English hīeran M… The correct English form is hear, spelled H-E-A-R.
Definition
- 1To perceive sounds through the ear.
- 2To perceive (a sound, or something producing a sound) with the ear, to recognize (something) in an auditory way.
- 3To exercise this faculty intentionally; to listen to.
- 4To listen favourably to; to grant (a request etc.).
- 5To receive information about; to come to learn of.
- 6To be contacted by.
- 7To listen to (a person, case) in a court of law; to try.
- 8To sympathize with; to understand the feelings or opinion of.
- 9To study under.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h₂ṓws Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *h₂ḱh₂owsyéti Proto-Germanic *hauzijaną Proto-West Germanic *hauʀijan Old English hīeran Middle English heren English hear From Middle English heren, from Old English hīeran (“to hear”), from Proto-West Germanic *hauʀijan, from Proto-Germanic *hauzijaną (“to hear”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ḱh₂owsyéti (“to be sharp-eared”), from *h₂eḱ- (“sharp”) + *h₂ows- (“ear”) + *-yéti (denominative suffix). Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian heere (“to hear”), West Frisian hearre (“to hear”), Dutch horen (“to hear”), German hören (“to hear”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål høre (“to hear”), Norwegian Nynorsk høyra (“to hear”), Swedish höra (“to hear”), Icelandic heyra (“to hear”), Ancient Greek ἀκούω (akoúō, “I hear”).
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ehar,haer,hearr,hhear
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of hear - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "hear"?
What does "hear" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "hear"?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “hear”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is H-E-A-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈhɪə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “HR” - see the side-by-side comparison. hear vs HR
- 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.