heiress

/ɛəˈɹɛs/

//ɛəˈɹɛs// noun

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

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

The verdict

“heiress” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #26,456. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#26,456
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
4
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A woman who has a right of inheritance or who stands to inherit.

Corpus desk

Index EN-heiress · heiress · English

heiress · rank #26,456 · 8 variants · 4 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #26,456
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 4 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH hells

Nearest frequency peer: hells (+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 “heiress”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “heiress” 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).

heiress vs here's
71% similar
heiress vs heresy
71% similar
heiress vs Hebrews
57% similar

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

Key facts for heiress
PropertyValue
Headwordheiress
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ɛəˈɹɛs/
Letters7
Frequency rank#26,456
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs4
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “heiress”

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).heiresslands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “hells” (#26,457), “harrowing” (#26,454), “Herzegovina” (#26,458). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “heiress” is #26,456. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around heiress (IPA /ɛəˈɹɛs/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #26,456 among 2,646 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for heiress, with forms such as "ehiress", "heierss", and "heires". 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 4 confusable-pair relationships, "here's", "heresy", "Hebrews", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From heir + -ess. The correct English form is heiress, spelled H-E-I-R-E-S-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    A woman who has a right of inheritance or who stands to inherit.
  2. 2
    A woman who has received an inheritance.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. "Do you know, Julia, that Charles has taken some wild-goose fancy into his head about marrying?" "Why, what heiress have you picked up?" asked his sister. "I am sure that I am very glad of it, though I cannot form a guess who it is. I never knew a season so unprofitable in that respect as the present."

Etymology

From heir + -ess.

This word in other languages

heredera(Español)héritière(Français)Erbin(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ehiress
  • heierss
  • heires
  • heirress
  • heirses
  • heriess
  • hheiress
  • hieress

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ehiress2heierss2heires1heirress1heirses2heriess2hheiress1hieress2
Edit distance from "heiress"

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 "heiress"?
"heiress" is spelled H-E-I-R-E-S-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ɛəˈɹɛs/.
What does "heiress" mean?
As a noun, "heiress" means: A woman who has a right of inheritance or who stands to inherit.
What words are commonly confused with "heiress"?
"heiress" is commonly confused with "here's", "heresy", "Hebrews". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "heiress"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "heiress" is /ɛəˈɹɛs/. 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 "heiress"?
From heir + -ess. 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 "heiress", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

handset#26,453gymnast#26,449holster#26,463Gonzalo#26,443

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

hunch8 variantsGaines8 variantsKeenan8 variantsfouled8 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list