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hindrance

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

9 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "hindrance", 9-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Wiktionary, and usage frequency ranked against an open word-frequency list covering the top 100,000 English words. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "hindrance" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "hindrance" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

hindrance is aEnglishnoun. It means: Something which hinders: something that holds back or causes problems with something else. Pronounced /ˈhɪndɹəns/.

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Key facts for hindrance
PropertyValue
Headwordhindrance
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈhɪndɹəns/
Letters9
Frequency rank#28,581
Misspellings tracked15
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of hindrance in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for hindrance is 9 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈhɪndɹəns/. Corpus data places it at rank #28,581 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for hindrance, with forms such as "hhindrance", "hidnrance", and "hindarnce". 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 is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English hinderance, hinderaunce, hindraunce, hynderaunce, hynderawnce, hynderawns, hyndrance; equivalent to hinder + -ance. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is hindrance, spelled H-I-N-D-R-A-N-C-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Something which hinders: something that holds back or causes problems with something else.
  2. 2
    The state or act of hindering something.

Etymology

From Middle English hinderance, hinderaunce, hindraunce, hynderaunce, hynderawnce, hynderawns, hyndrance; equivalent to hinder + -ance.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: hhindrance,hidnrance,hindarnce,hinddrance,hindracne,hindrancce,hindranec,hindrannce,hindrence,hindrnace,hindrrance,hinndrance,hinrdance,hnidrance,ihndrance

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for hindrance

Misspelling Variants of "hindrance"

hhindrance10hidnrance9hindarnce9hinddrance10hindracne9hindrancce10hindranec9hindrannce10
Misspelling Variants of "hindrance"

Frequency rank: #28,581 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "hindrance"?
"hindrance" is spelled H-I-N-D-R-A-N-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈhɪndɹəns/.
What does "hindrance" mean?
As a noun, "hindrance" means: Something which hinders: something that holds back or causes problems with something else.
What are common misspellings of "hindrance"?
Common misspellings include "hhindrance", "hidnrance", "hindarnce", "hinddrance", "hindracne". The correct spelling is "hindrance".
How do you pronounce "hindrance"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "hindrance" is /ˈhɪndɹəns/. 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 "hindrance"?
From Middle English hinderance, hinderaunce, hindraunce, hynderaunce, hynderawnce, hynderawns, hyndrance; equivalent to hinder + -ance. 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter H in our English index:

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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.