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PlainSpell

hijack

/ˈhaɪ.d͡ʒæk/verb, noun

hijack is spelled H-I-J-A-C-K. The wrong spelling people search most is hyjack: about 110 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 27 of all searches for the word. Hijack is a verb meaning “To forcibly seize control of some vehicle in order to rob it or to reach a destination (especially an…”.

How many letters and syllables are in hijack?

Letters6: H-I-J-A-C-K
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing1.3 times per million words; the 25,070th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searched1; the most searched, hyjack, about 110 Bing searches a month (all of them)

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).

How do you spell hijack?

Hijack is spelled H-I-J-A-C-K. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 27 of the searches for hijack in either form.

hijackthe right spelling2,820 searches a month
hyjacky in place of i110 searches a month

Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.

How common is hijack?

Hijack appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 25,070th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce hijack?

  • US /ˈhaɪ.d͡ʒæk/
  • Australia /ˈhɑe.d͡ʒæk/
  • [ˈhɑe̯.d͡ʒæk]

Hijack has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-hijack.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with hijack

Also written: hi-jack (one word or two).

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of hijack

  • hijacks present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • hijacking participle, present
  • hijacked participle, past
  • hi-jack
  • highjack

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does hijack mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To forcibly seize control of some vehicle in order to rob it or to reach a destination (especially an airplane, truck or a boat).

  2. 2

    To seize control of some process or resource to achieve a purpose other than its originally intended one.

    hijack the radio show

  3. 3

    To introduce an amendment deleting the contents of a bill and inserting entirely new provisions.

noun

  1. 1

    An instance of hijacking; the illegal seizure of a vehicle; a hijacking.

  2. 2

    An instance of a seizure and redirection of a process.

    I opened my closet door and stared. Should I pack my good suit and black loafers? Uh-uh. Travel light. Think positive. Go there, get done whatever there was to do, and get back. I loved Lolly, but I couldn't let her stroke hijack my life. H

  3. 3

    An amendment which deletes the contents of a bill and inserts entirely new provisions.

  4. 4

    slangPreflop, the position two before the dealer.

  5. 5

    obsoleteA highwayman, robber.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Hijack in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchdétourner (to seize control of a vehicle), détournement (instance of hijacking of a vehicle)
Germanentführen, hijacken, überfallen, kapern, die Kontrolle an sich reißen über (to seize control of a vehicle), Entführung (instance of hijacking of a vehicle)
Portuguesesequestrar (to seize control of a vehicle)
Spanishsecuestrar, atracar, arrebatar, rebatar (to seize control of a vehicle)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does hijack come from?

Possibly from a blend of highway + jacker (“one who holds up”) (1915).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after hijack