heft

/hɛft/

//hɛft// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"heft" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“heft” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #39,349. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#39,349
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The feel of the weight of something; heaviness.

Corpus desk

Index EN-heft · heft · English

heft · rank #39,349 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #39,349
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH heartedly

Nearest frequency peer: heartedly (-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 “heft”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “heft” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

heft vs her
50% similar
heft vs hit
50% similar
heft vs hot
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for heft
PropertyValue
Headwordheft
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/hɛft/
Letters4
Frequency rank#39,349
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “heft”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).heftlands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “heartedly” (#39,348), “Havre” (#39,347), “Hibs” (#39,351). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “heft” is #39,349. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around heft (IPA /hɛft/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #39,349 among 2,646 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for heft, with forms such as "ehft", "hefft", and "heftt". 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, "her", "hit", "hot", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: The noun is derived from Late Middle English heft (“heaviness; something heavy, a weight”), from heven (“to lift, raise”) + -th (suffix denoting a condition, quality, state of being, etc., forming nouns), by analogy with the development of weft from weven (… The correct English form is heft, spelled H-E-F-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    The feel of the weight of something; heaviness.
  2. 2
    The force exerted by an object due to gravitation; weight.
  3. 3
    Graveness, seriousness; gravity.
  4. 4
    Importance, influence; weight.
  5. 5
    The greater part of something; the bulk, the mass.
  6. 6
    An act of lifting; a lift.
  7. 7
    An act of heaving (lifting with difficulty); an instance of violent exertion or straining.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. A high quality hammer should have good balance and heft.
  2. But Durindan at laſt fell vvith ſuch heft, / Full on the circle of Rogeros ſhield, / That halfe vvay through the Argent byrd it cleft, / And pierſt the core of male [i.e., mail] that vvas vvithin, / And found a paſſage to the verie skin.

Etymology

The noun is derived from Late Middle English heft (“heaviness; something heavy, a weight”), from heven (“to lift, raise”) + -th (suffix denoting a condition, quality, state of being, etc., forming nouns), by analogy with the development of weft from weven (modern English weave), etc. (also compare words like cleft from cleave, and theft from thieve, where the development occurred in Old English or earlier languages). The English word is analysable as heave + -t (suffix forming nouns from verbs). The verb is probably derived from the noun.

This word in other languages

pesadez(Español)poids(Français)Schwere(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ehft
  • hefft
  • heftt
  • hetf
  • hfet
  • hheft

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of heft - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ehft2hefft1heftt1hetf2hfet2hheft1
Edit distance from "heft"

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 "heft"?
"heft" is spelled H-E-F-T. The IPA pronunciation is /hɛft/.
What does "heft" mean?
As a noun, "heft" means: The feel of the weight of something; heaviness.
What words are commonly confused with "heft"?
"heft" is commonly confused with "her", "hit", "hot". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "heft"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "heft" is /hɛft/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "heft"?
The noun is derived from Late Middle English heft (“heaviness; something heavy, a weight”), from heven (“to lift, raise”) + -th (suffix denoting a condition, quality, state of being, etc., forming nouns), by analogy with the development of weft fr... 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 "heft", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Hibs#39,351Ivor#39,372JSON#39,378loin#39,400

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

guile6 variantsLilian6 variantsLoire6 variantsmatted6 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list