hearse
/hɜːs/
"hearse" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“hearse” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #37,023. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #37,023
- frequency rank, English
- 2,646
- “H” headwords
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A framework of wood or metal placed over the coffin or tomb of a deceased person, and covered with a pall; also, a temporary canopy bearing wax lights and set up in a church, under which the coffin...
Corpus desk
Index EN-hearse · hearse · English
hearse · rank #37,023 · 8 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #37,023
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 8 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,646
- PHOTO-FINISH healthful
Nearest frequency peer: healthful (-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 “hearse”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- hardback
hardback
62,981 corpus weight
- healthful
healthful
62,979 corpus weight
- hearse
hearse
62,978 corpus weight
- helplessly
helplessly
62,977 corpus weight
- herbicide
herbicide
62,975 corpus weight
- homemaker
homemaker
62,974 corpus weight
What this shows “hearse” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
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 | hearse |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /hɜːs/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #37,023 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “hearse”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 8 spelling variants around hearse (IPA /hɜːs/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #37,023 among 2,646 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for hearse, with forms such as "eharse", "haerse", and "heares". 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, "here", "hers", "heart", 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 herse, hers, herce, from Old French herce, from Medieval Latin hercia, from Latin herpicem, hirpex; ultimately from Oscan 𐌇𐌉𐌓𐌐𐌖𐌔 (hirpus, “wolf”), a reference to the teeth, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰers- (“stiff, rigid… The correct English form is hearse, spelled H-E-A-R-S-E.
Definition
- 1A framework of wood or metal placed over the coffin or tomb of a deceased person, and covered with a pall; also, a temporary canopy bearing wax lights and set up in a church, under which the coffin was placed during the funeral ceremonies.
- 2A grave, coffin, tomb, or sepulchral monument.
- 3A bier or handbarrow for conveying the dead to the grave.
- 4A carriage or vehicle specially adapted or used for transporting a dead person to the place of funeral or to the grave.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how hearse appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
underneath this sable hearse
Beside the hearse a fruitful palm tree grows,
Etymology
From Middle English herse, hers, herce, from Old French herce, from Medieval Latin hercia, from Latin herpicem, hirpex; ultimately from Oscan 𐌇𐌉𐌓𐌐𐌖𐌔 (hirpus, “wolf”), a reference to the teeth, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰers- (“stiff, rigid, bristled”). The Oscan term is related to Latin hīrsūtus (“bristly, shaggy”), whence English hirsute. Doublet of herse (“kind of gate”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- eharse
- haerse
- heares
- hearrse
- hearsse
- heasre
- herase
- hhearse
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of hearse - 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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "hearse", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).