hesitated
/ˈhɛzɪteɪtɪd/
"hesitated" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“hesitated” has 13 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #26,110. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #26,110
- frequency rank, English
- 23,837
- “H” headwords
- 13
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - simple past and past participle of hesitate
Corpus desk
Index EN-hesitated · hesitated · English
hesitated · rank #26,110 · 13 variants · 1 confusable
- FREQ-MID #26,110
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
- VAR-HIGH 13 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 23,837
- PHOTO-FINISH henceforth
Nearest frequency peer: henceforth (-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 “hesitated”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- harrow
harrow
73,894 corpus weight
- hatchet
hatchet
73,893 corpus weight
- henceforth
henceforth
73,892 corpus weight
- hesitated
hesitated
73,891 corpus weight
- heterogeneo…
heterogeneous
73,890 corpus weight
- hilltop
hilltop
73,889 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “hesitated” 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 | hesitated |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈhɛzɪteɪtɪd/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #26,110 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “hesitated” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 13 spelling variants around hesitated (IPA /ˈhɛzɪteɪtɪd/), averb. Corpus frequency is #26,110 among 23,837 “H” headwords. Dominant gloss: "simple past and past participle of hesitate".
Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for hesitated, with forms such as "ehsitated", "heistated", and "hesiatted". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "hesitate", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct English form is hesitated, spelled H-E-S-I-T-A-T-E-D.
Definition
- 1simple past and past participle of hesitate
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ehsitated
- heistated
- hesiatted
- hesitaetd
- hesitatde
- hesitatedd
- hesitatted
- hesittaed
- hesittated
- hessitated
- hestiated
- hhesitated
- hseitated
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of hesitated - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "hesitated"?
What does "hesitated" mean?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "hesitated", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).
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.