heist

/haɪst/

//haɪst// noun

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

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

The verdict

“heist” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #17,379. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#17,379
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A robbery or burglary, especially from an institution such as a bank or museum.

Corpus desk

Index EN-heist · heist · English

heist · rank #17,379 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #17,379
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH heartbreak

Nearest frequency peer: heartbreak (-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 “heist”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “heist” 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).

heist vs his
60% similar
heist vs hit
60% similar
heist vs hes
60% similar

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

Key facts for heist
PropertyValue
Headwordheist
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/haɪst/
Letters5
Frequency rank#17,379
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “heist”

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “heartbreak” (#17,378), “heterosexual” (#17,380), “Hayley” (#17,377). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “heist” is #17,379. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around heist (IPA /haɪst/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #17,379 among 2,646 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for heist, with forms such as "ehist", "heisst", and "heistt". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "his", "hit", "hes", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Probably pronunciation variation of hoist. The correct English form is heist, spelled H-E-I-S-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    A robbery or burglary, especially from an institution such as a bank or museum.
  2. 2
    A fiction genre in which a heist is central to the plot; a work in such a genre.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The audacious hijacking in Paris of a van carrying the baggage of a Saudi prince to his private jet is obviously an embarrassment to the French capital, whose ultra-high-end boutiques have suffered a spate of heists in recent months.
  2. It is a conventional heist play in which the drama is created less through the characters' actions than through the fact of one of them having a gun.

Etymology

Probably pronunciation variation of hoist.

This word in other languages

robo(Español)braquage(Français)Raub(Deutsch)roubo(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ehist
  • heisst
  • heistt
  • heits
  • hesit
  • hheist
  • hiest

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ehist2heisst1heistt1heits2hesit2hheist1hiest2
Edit distance from "heist"

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 "heist"?
"heist" is spelled H-E-I-S-T. The IPA pronunciation is /haɪst/.
What does "heist" mean?
As a noun, "heist" means: A robbery or burglary, especially from an institution such as a bank or museum.
What words are commonly confused with "heist"?
"heist" is commonly confused with "his", "hit", "hes". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "heist"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "heist" is /haɪst/. 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 "heist"?
Probably pronunciation variation of hoist. 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 "heist", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Hanoi#17,376Huang#17,387fairs#17,364evade#17,362

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

Hewitt7 variantshobbit7 variantsItalia7 variantsElton7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list