hide one's light under a bushel
/ˌhaɪd wʌnz ˈlaɪt ˌʌndɚ‿ə ˈbʊʃl̩/
"hide-one-s-light-under-a-bushel" is a 25-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“hide one's light under a bushel” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 31
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To conceal one's positive qualities or talents, especially due to modesty or shyness; to avoid attention.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | hide one's light under a bushel |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˌhaɪd wʌnz ˈlaɪt ˌʌndɚ‿ə ˈbʊʃl̩/ |
| Letters | 31 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “hide one's light under a bushel” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
hide one's light under a bushel is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /ˌhaɪd wʌnz ˈlaɪt ˌʌndɚ‿ə ˈbʊʃl̩/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To conceal one's positive qualities or talents, especially due to modesty or shyness; to avoid attention.".
hide one's light under a bushel has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Originally a reference to one of Jesus Christ’s parables recorded in Matthew 5:14–15, Mark 4:21–25, and Luke 8:16–18 of the Bible. For example, in the King James Version the passage from Matthew states (spelling modernized): “Ye are the light of the world. … The correct English form is hide one's light under a bushel, spelled H-I-D-E- -O-N-E-'-S- -L-I-G-H-T- -U-N-D-E-R- -A- -B-U-S-H-E-L.
Definition
- 1To conceal one's positive qualities or talents, especially due to modesty or shyness; to avoid attention.
Etymology
Originally a reference to one of Jesus Christ’s parables recorded in Matthew 5:14–15, Mark 4:21–25, and Luke 8:16–18 of the Bible. For example, in the King James Version the passage from Matthew states (spelling modernized): “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill, cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel: but on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your father which is in heaven.” The parable uses the imagery of a candle hidden under an overturned bushel (“a dry-measure vessel with a capacity of eight gallons”), and is interpreted as a call to Christians to set a good example through their actions that other people may come to believe in the faith.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “hide one's light under a bushel”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is H-I-D-E- -O-N-E-'-S- -L-I-G-H-T- -U-N-D-E-R- -A- -B-U-S-H-E-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌhaɪd wʌnz ˈlaɪt ˌʌndɚ‿ə ˈbʊʃl̩/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.