heinous

/ˈheɪnəs/

//ˈheɪnəs// adj

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

"heinous" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“heinous” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #20,952. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#20,952
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords
9
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Totally reprehensible.

Corpus desk

Index EN-heinous · heinous · English

heinous · rank #20,952 · 9 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #20,952
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH hehe

Nearest frequency peer: hehe (-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 “heinous”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “heinous” 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
Key facts for heinous
PropertyValue
Headwordheinous
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈheɪnəs/
Letters7
Frequency rank#20,952
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “heinous”

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “hehe” (#20,951), “hedgehog” (#20,950), “hoe” (#20,954). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “heinous” is #20,952. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around heinous (IPA /ˈheɪnəs/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #20,952 among 2,646 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for heinous, with forms such as "ehinous", "heinnous", and "heinosu". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English hainous, from Old French haïneus (compare French haineux) from haïr (“to hate”), hadir (“to hate”) (compare Old French enhadir (“to become filled with hate”)), from Frankish *hattjan (“to hate”) The fluctuation between pronunciations wit… The correct English form is heinous, spelled H-E-I-N-O-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Totally reprehensible.
  2. 2
    Bad, evil or villainous.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. I hope they catch the person responsible for that heinous crime.
  2. The perpetrators of this heinous act must be brought to justice.

Etymology

From Middle English hainous, from Old French haïneus (compare French haineux) from haïr (“to hate”), hadir (“to hate”) (compare Old French enhadir (“to become filled with hate”)), from Frankish *hattjan (“to hate”) The fluctuation between pronunciations with /eɪ/ and /iː/ is old; the former reflects adoption of an unmonophthongised pronunciation of Old French -ai-, while the latter reflects a monophthongised form.

Synonyms

abominablehorribleodious

Antonyms

unheinous

This word in other languages

atroz(Español)atroce(Français)abscheulich(Deutsch)hediondo(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ehinous
  • heinnous
  • heinosu
  • heinouss
  • heinuos
  • heionus
  • henious
  • hheinous
  • hienous

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of heinous - 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.

ehinous2heinnous1heinosu2heinouss1heinuos2heionus2henious2hheinous1
Edit distance from "heinous"

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 "heinous"?
"heinous" is spelled H-E-I-N-O-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈheɪnəs/.
What does "heinous" mean?
As an adjective, "heinous" means: Totally reprehensible.
What are common misspellings of "heinous"?
Common misspellings include "ehinous", "heinnous", "heinosu", "heinouss", "heinuos". The correct spelling is "heinous".
How do you pronounce "heinous"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "heinous" is /ˈheɪnəs/. 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 "heinous"?
From Middle English hainous, from Old French haïneus (compare French haineux) from haïr (“to hate”), hadir (“to hate”) (compare Old French enhadir (“to become filled with hate”)), from Frankish *hattjan (“to hate”) The fluctuation between pronunci... 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 "heinous", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

inbound#20,961Ezekiel#20,920Dresden#20,906Melinda#21,001

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

Hadley9 variantsIngrid9 variantsfathom9 variantslament9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list