Hefei

name

"hefei" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Hefei” is uncommon English (frequency #97,099 among 2,646 “H” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#97,099
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A prefecture-level city, the provincial capital of Anhui, in central China.

Corpus desk

Index EN-hefei · Hefei · English

Hefei · rank #97,099 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #97,099
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH hax

Nearest frequency peer: hax (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “Hefei”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “Hefei” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Hefei
PropertyValue
HeadwordHefei
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
Letters5
Frequency rank#97,099
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “Hefei” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).Hefeifalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “hax” (#97,098), “Heraklion” (#97,102), “Hashemite” (#97,095). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “Hefei” is #97,099. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Hefei is uncommon English at frequency #97,099 among 2,646 “H” headwords, classed as aproper noun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A prefecture-level city, the provincial capital of Anhui, in central China.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for Hefei, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Mandarin 合肥 (Héféi). The correct English form is Hefei, spelled H-E-F-E-I.

Definition

  1. 1
    A prefecture-level city, the provincial capital of Anhui, in central China.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Some 10,000 people took the streets in the eastern city of Hefei this week in what appears to have been the largest student demonstration since the Tiananmen Square human rights protests of 1989.
  2. The other case, surnamed Zhang, was in close contact with Li during a training class Li led in the city of Luan, near Anhui's provincial capital Hefei, Xinhua reported.[…] Two areas in Luan city and one part of Feixi county were declared "medium-risk" regions by local authorities in response to the cases. State media reported mass testing being carried ou…

Etymology

From Mandarin 合肥 (Héféi).

Synonyms

LuchowLuzhou

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 "Hefei"?
"Hefei" is spelled H-E-F-E-I.
What does "Hefei" mean?
As a proper noun, "Hefei" means: A prefecture-level city, the provincial capital of Anhui, in central China.
What is the origin of the word "Hefei"?
From Mandarin 合肥 (Héféi). 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 "Hefei", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list