himself

/hɪmˈsɛlf/

//hɪmˈsɛlf// pron

"himself" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“himself” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #561. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#561
frequency rank, English
23,837
“H” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Him; the male object of a verb or preposition that also appears as the subject

Corpus desk

Index EN-himself · himself · English

himself · rank #561 · 11 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-CORE #561
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 23,837
  • PHOTO-FINISH gets

Nearest frequency peer: gets (-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 “himself”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “himself” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of May 6, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

himself vs herself
71% similar

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

Key facts for himself
PropertyValue
Headwordhimself
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechPronoun
IPA/hɪmˈsɛlf/
Letters7
Frequency rank#561
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “himself” sits in English frequency

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around himself (IPA /hɪmˈsɛlf/), apronoun. Corpus frequency is #561 among 23,837 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for himself, with forms such as "hhimself", "himeslf", and "himmself". 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, "herself", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English hymself, from Old English him selfum. Equivalent to him + -self. The correct English form is himself, spelled H-I-M-S-E-L-F.

Definition

  1. 1
    Him; the male object of a verb or preposition that also appears as the subject
  2. 2
    He; used as an intensifier, often to emphasize that the referent is the exclusive participant in the predicate
  3. 3
    The subject or non-reflexive object of a predicate; he himself.
  4. 4
    The subject or non-reflexive object of a predicate; he (used of upper-class gentlemen, or sarcastically, of men who imagine themselves to be more important than others)

Etymology

From Middle English hymself, from Old English him selfum. Equivalent to him + -self.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • hhimself
  • himeslf
  • himmself
  • himsefl
  • himselff
  • himsellf
  • himslef
  • himsself
  • hismelf
  • hmiself
  • ihmself

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of himself - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

hhimself1himeslf2himmself1himsefl2himselff1himsellf1himslef2himsself1
Edit distance from "himself"

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 "himself"?
"himself" is spelled H-I-M-S-E-L-F. The IPA pronunciation is /hɪmˈsɛlf/.
What does "himself" mean?
As a pronoun, "himself" means: Him; the male object of a verb or preposition that also appears as the subject
What words are commonly confused with "himself"?
"himself" is commonly confused with "herself". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "himself"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "himself" is /hɪmˈsɛlf/. 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 "himself"?
From Middle English hymself, from Old English him selfum. Equivalent to him + -self. 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 "himself", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list