hobbit
/ˈhɒbɪt/
"hobbit" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“hobbit” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #17,383 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #17,383
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 6
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A member of a fictional race of small humanoids with shaggy hair and hairy feet.
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 | hobbit |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈhɒbɪt/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #17,383 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 6 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “hobbit” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for hobbit is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈhɒbɪt/. Corpus data places it at rank #17,383 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for hobbit, with forms such as "hbobit", "hhobbit", and "hobbitt". 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 6 confusable-pair relationships, "hobby", "Hobbs", "hobbyist", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Coined in its current sense by J. R. R. Tolkien in the 1930s, featured in the novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Jocularly etymologized by him as from a hypothetical Old English *holbytla (literally “hole-builder”), from hol (“hole”) + bytlan (“to… The correct English form is hobbit, spelled H-O-B-B-I-T.
Definition
- 1A member of a fictional race of small humanoids with shaggy hair and hairy feet.
- 2A member of a fictional race of small humanoids with shaggy hair and hairy feet.
- 3An extinct species of hominin, Homo floresiensis, with a short body and relatively small brain, fossils of which have been recovered from the Indonesian island of Flores.
- 4A socially unappealing, overly academic student.
Etymology
Coined in its current sense by J. R. R. Tolkien in the 1930s, featured in the novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Jocularly etymologized by him as from a hypothetical Old English *holbytla (literally “hole-builder”), from hol (“hole”) + bytlan (“to build”) + -a (“-er”). Tolkien was possibly influenced by similar terms for house-sprites (probably from Hob, a hypocoristic form of Robert), or an isolated mention of hobbits (with hobgoblins following immediately afterwards) in a list of sprites and bogies from the 19th-century Denham Tracts.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: hbobit,hhobbit,hobbitt,hobbti,hobibt,hobit,ohbbit
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of hobbit - 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “hobbit”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is H-O-B-B-I-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈhɒbɪt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “hobby” - see the side-by-side comparison. hobbit vs hobby
- 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.