honor

/ˈɒn.ə/

//ˈɒn.ə// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"honor" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“honor” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #2,076. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,076
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Recognition of importance or value; respect; veneration (of someone, usually for being morally upright or successful).

Corpus desk

Index EN-honor · honor · English

honor · rank #2,076 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,076
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH honestly

Nearest frequency peer: honestly (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “honor”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “honor” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

honor vs hoo
60% similar
honor vs hor
60% similar
honor vs hour
60% similar

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

Key facts for honor
PropertyValue
Headwordhonor
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈɒn.ə/
Letters5
Frequency rank#2,076
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “honor”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).honorlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “honestly” (#2,075), “homes” (#2,074), “jump” (#2,078). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “honor” is #2,076. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around honor (IPA /ˈɒn.ə/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #2,076 among 2,646 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 12 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for honor, with forms such as "hhonor", "hnoor", and "honnor". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "hoo", "hor", "hour", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English honour, honor, honur, from Anglo-Norman honour, honur, from Old French honor, from Latin honor. Displaced Middle English menske (“honor, dignity among men”), from Old Norse menskr (“honor”). The verb is from Middle English honouren, honu… The correct English form is honor, spelled H-O-N-O-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Recognition of importance or value; respect; veneration (of someone, usually for being morally upright or successful).
  2. 2
    The state of being morally upright, honest, noble, virtuous, and magnanimous; excellence of character; the perception of such a state; favourable reputation; dignity.
  3. 3
    A token of praise or respect; something that represents praiseworthiness or respect, such as a prize or award given by the state to a citizen.
  4. 4
    A privilege (which honors the person experiencing it).
  5. 5
    The privilege of going first.
  6. 6
    The privilege of going first.
  7. 7
    A cause of respect and fame; a glory; an excellency; an ornament.
  8. 8
    A seigniory or lordship held of the king, on which other lordships and manors depended.
  9. 9
    The center point of the upper half of an armorial escutcheon (compare honour point).
  10. 10
    In bridge, an ace, king, queen, jack, or ten especially of the trump suit; in some other games, an ace, king, queen or jack.
  11. 11
    In bridge, an ace, king, queen, jack, or ten especially of the trump suit; in some other games, an ace, king, queen or jack.
  12. 12
    (Courses for) an honours degree: a university qualification of the highest rank.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how honor appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The crowds gave the returning general much honor and praise.
  2. A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country.

Etymology

From Middle English honour, honor, honur, from Anglo-Norman honour, honur, from Old French honor, from Latin honor. Displaced Middle English menske (“honor, dignity among men”), from Old Norse menskr (“honor”). The verb is from Middle English honouren, honuren (“to honor”).

Synonyms

chivalryglorygentlemanliness

Antonyms

dishonordishonour

This word in other languages

honor(Español)honneur(Français)Ehre(Deutsch)honra(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • hhonor
  • hnoor
  • honnor
  • honorr
  • honro
  • hoonr
  • ohnor

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of honor - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

hhonor1hnoor2honnor1honorr1honro2hoonr2ohnor2
Edit distance from "honor"

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

How do you spell "honor"?
"honor" is spelled H-O-N-O-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɒn.ə/.
What does "honor" mean?
As a noun, "honor" means: Recognition of importance or value; respect; veneration (of someone, usually for being morally upright or successful).
What words are commonly confused with "honor"?
"honor" is commonly confused with "hoo", "hor", "hour". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "honor"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "honor" is /ˈɒn.ə/. 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 "honor"?
From Middle English honour, honor, honur, from Anglo-Norman honour, honur, from Old French honor, from Latin honor. Displaced Middle English menske (“honor, dignity among men”), from Old Norse menskr (“honor”). The verb is from Middle English hono... 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 "honor", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

homes#2,074noted#2,083chair#2,067banks#2,061

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

yellow7 variantsproof7 variantslimit7 variantsfixed7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list