hem
/hɛm/
"hem" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“hem” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #21,236) as an interjection. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.
- #21,236
- frequency rank, English
- 23,837
- “H” headwords
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Used to fill in the gap of a pause with a vocalized sound.
Corpus desk
Index EN-hem · hem · English
hem · rank #21,236 · 0 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #21,236
- LEN-MID 3 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 23,837
- PHOTO-FINISH hawking
Nearest frequency peer: hawking (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “hem”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- Greta
Greta
78,768 corpus weight
- hanger
hanger
78,767 corpus weight
- hawking
hawking
78,766 corpus weight
- hem
hem
78,765 corpus weight
- hitman
hitman
78,764 corpus weight
- Hobbs
Hobbs
78,762 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “hem” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | hem |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Interjection |
| IPA | /hɛm/ |
| Letters | 3 |
| Frequency rank | #21,236 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “hem” sits in English frequency
Easy to mix with look-alikes
The spelling risk for hem is neighbouring look-alikes ("hi", "ho", …), not just typos; it is aninterjection pronounced /hɛm/. Frequency #21,236 among 23,837 “H” headwords. Gloss: "Used to fill in the gap of a pause with a vocalized sound.".
Zero misspellings are on record for hem in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "hi", "ho", "HR", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: A sound uttered in imitation of clearing the throat (onomatopoeia) The correct English form is hem, spelled H-E-M.
Definition
- 1Used to fill in the gap of a pause with a vocalized sound.
Etymology
A sound uttered in imitation of clearing the throat (onomatopoeia)
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "hem"?
What does "hem" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "hem"?
How do you pronounce "hem"?
What is the origin of the word "hem"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "hem", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.