hearsay
/ˈhɪəseɪ/
"hearsay" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“hearsay” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #27,491 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #27,491
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 5
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Information that was heard by one person about another that cannot be adequately substantiated.
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 | hearsay |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈhɪəseɪ/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #27,491 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 5 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “hearsay” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for hearsay is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈhɪəseɪ/. Corpus data places it at rank #27,491 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for hearsay, with forms such as "eharsay", "haersay", and "hearasy". 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 5 confusable-pair relationships, "hearty", "Hearst", "hearse", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English hyere-zigginge (1340), here sey (ca. 1438), from the phrase heren seien (“to hear [people] say”). Compare equally old Middle High German hœrsagen (14th c.), whence modern Hörensagen. The correct English form is hearsay, spelled H-E-A-R-S-A-Y.
Definition
- 1Information that was heard by one person about another that cannot be adequately substantiated.
- 2Evidence based on the reports of others, which is normally inadmissible because it was not made under oath, rather than on personal knowledge.
- 3An out-of-court statement offered in court to prove the truth of the matter asserted (or the in-court testimony which recites such a statement), which is normally inadmissible (because it is not subject to cross-examination) unless it falls under one of a number of exceptions.
Etymology
From Middle English hyere-zigginge (1340), here sey (ca. 1438), from the phrase heren seien (“to hear [people] say”). Compare equally old Middle High German hœrsagen (14th c.), whence modern Hörensagen.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: eharsay,haersay,hearasy,hearrsay,hearsayy,hearssay,hearsya,heasray,herasay,hhearsay
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of hearsay - 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
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Using “hearsay”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is H-E-A-R-S-A-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈhɪəseɪ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “hearty” - see the side-by-side comparison. hearsay vs hearty
- 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.