Houdini

name

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

The verdict

“Houdini” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #36,178. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#36,178
frequency rank, English
23,837
“H” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The magician and escape artist Harry Houdini.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

Houdini vs housing
57% similar
Houdini vs holding
57% similar

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

Key facts for Houdini
PropertyValue
HeadwordHoudini
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
Letters7
Frequency rank#36,178
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “Houdini” 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). Houdini 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 9 spelling variants around Houdini, aproper noun. Corpus frequency is #36,178 among 23,837 “H” headwords. Dominant gloss: "The magician and escape artist Harry Houdini.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for Houdini, with forms such as "hhoudini", "hoduini", and "houddini". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "housing", "holding", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Invented by Harry Houdini from the French magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin. The correct English form is Houdini, spelled H-O-U-D-I-N-I.

Definition

  1. 1
    The magician and escape artist Harry Houdini.

Etymology

Invented by Harry Houdini from the French magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: hhoudini,hoduini,houddini,houdiin,houdinni,houdnii,houidni,huodini,ohudini

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

hhoudini1hoduini2houddini1houdiin2houdinni1houdnii2houidni2huodini2
Edit distance from "Houdini"

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 "Houdini"?
"Houdini" is spelled H-O-U-D-I-N-I.
What does "Houdini" mean?
As a proper noun, "Houdini" means: The magician and escape artist Harry Houdini.
What words are commonly confused with "Houdini"?
"Houdini" is commonly confused with "housing", "holding". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What is the origin of the word "Houdini"?
Invented by Harry Houdini from the French magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin. 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.

Using “Houdini”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is H-O-U-D-I-N-I - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Don't mix it up with “housing” - see the side-by-side comparison. Houdini vs housing
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Same frequency band

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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list