horror

/ˈhɒɹ.ə/

//ˈhɒɹ.ə// noun

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

"horror" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“horror” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #3,433. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#3,433
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
6
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An intense distressing emotion of fear or repugnance.

Corpus desk

Index EN-horror · horror · English

horror · rank #3,433 · 7 variants · 6 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,433
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 6 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH helpful

Nearest frequency peer: helpful (-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 “horror”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “horror” 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).

horror vs Horton
50% similar
horror vs honor
67% similar
horror vs harbor
67% similar

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

Key facts for horror
PropertyValue
Headwordhorror
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈhɒɹ.ə/
Letters6
Frequency rank#3,433
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs6
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “horror”

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).horrorlands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “helpful” (#3,432), “iPhone” (#3,434), “gym” (#3,431). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “horror” is #3,433. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around horror (IPA /ˈhɒɹ.ə/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #3,433 among 2,646 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 8 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for horror, with forms such as "hhorror", "horor", and "hororr". 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 6 confusable-pair relationships, "Horton", "honor", "harbor", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English horer, horrour, from Old French horror, from Latin horror (“a bristling, a shaking, trembling as with cold or fear, terror”), from horrere (“to bristle, shake, be terrified”). Displaced native Old English ōga. The correct English form is horror, spelled H-O-R-R-O-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    An intense distressing emotion of fear or repugnance.
  2. 2
    Something horrible; that which excites horror.
  3. 3
    Intense dislike or aversion; an abhorrence.
  4. 4
    A genre of fiction designed to evoke a feeling of fear and suspense.
  5. 5
    A genre of fiction designed to evoke a feeling of fear and suspense.
  6. 6
    A nasty or ill-behaved person; a rascal or terror.
  7. 7
    An intense anxiety or a nervous depression; often the horrors.
  8. 8
    Delirium tremens.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Their swarthy Hosts wou'd darken all our Plains, / Doubling the native Horror of the War, / And making Death more grim.
  2. I saw many horrors during the war.

Etymology

From Middle English horer, horrour, from Old French horror, from Latin horror (“a bristling, a shaking, trembling as with cold or fear, terror”), from horrere (“to bristle, shake, be terrified”). Displaced native Old English ōga.

Synonyms

nightmare

This word in other languages

horror(Español)horreur(Français)Angst(Deutsch)horror(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • hhorror
  • horor
  • hororr
  • horrorr
  • horrro
  • hroror
  • ohrror

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of horror - 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.

hhorror1horor1hororr2horrorr1horrro2hroror2ohrror2
Edit distance from "horror"

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 "horror"?
"horror" is spelled H-O-R-R-O-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈhɒɹ.ə/.
What does "horror" mean?
As a noun, "horror" means: An intense distressing emotion of fear or repugnance.
What words are commonly confused with "horror"?
"horror" is commonly confused with "Horton", "honor", "harbor". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "horror"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "horror" is /ˈhɒɹ.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 "horror"?
From Middle English horer, horrour, from Old French horror, from Latin horror (“a bristling, a shaking, trembling as with cold or fear, terror”), from horrere (“to bristle, shake, be terrified”). Displaced native Old English ōga. 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 "horror", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

iPhone#3,434locked#3,438drinks#3,424output#3,442

Similar misspelling depth

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

label7 variantsnaked7 variantsopens7 variantsplain7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list