housewife

/ˈhaʊs.waɪf/

//ˈhaʊs.waɪf// noun

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

"housewife" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“housewife” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #17,159. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#17,159
frequency rank, English
23,837
“H” headwords
12
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A woman whose main employment is homemaking, maintaining the upkeep of her home and tending to household affairs; often, such a woman whose sole [unpaid] employment is homemaking.

Key facts for housewife
PropertyValue
Headwordhousewife
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈhaʊs.waɪf/
Letters9
Frequency rank#17,159
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “housewife” 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). housewife 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 12 spelling variants around housewife (IPA /ˈhaʊs.waɪf/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #17,159 among 23,837 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for housewife, with forms such as "hhousewife", "hosuewife", and "houeswife". 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. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English houswyf, housewif, huswijf, equivalent to house + wife; a doublet of hussy, which it was long distinguished from and displaced due to gradual negative connotation (see Online Etymology Dictionary entry). Cognate with West Frisian húswiif… The correct English form is housewife, spelled H-O-U-S-E-W-I-F-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A woman whose main employment is homemaking, maintaining the upkeep of her home and tending to household affairs; often, such a woman whose sole [unpaid] employment is homemaking.
  2. 2
    The wife of a householder; the mistress of a family; the female head of a household.
  3. 3
    A little case or bag for materials used in sewing, and for other articles of female work.
  4. 4
    A worthless woman; a hussy.

Etymology

From Middle English houswyf, housewif, huswijf, equivalent to house + wife; a doublet of hussy, which it was long distinguished from and displaced due to gradual negative connotation (see Online Etymology Dictionary entry). Cognate with West Frisian húswiif, Dutch huiswijf, German Low German Huuswief, German Hausweib.

This word in other languages

maîtresse de maison(Français)Hausfrau(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • hhousewife
  • hosuewife
  • houeswife
  • houseiwfe
  • housewfie
  • housewief
  • housewiffe
  • housewwife
  • houssewife
  • housweife
  • huosewife
  • ohusewife

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of housewife - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

hhousewife1hosuewife2houeswife2houseiwfe2housewfie2housewief2housewiffe1housewwife1
Edit distance from "housewife"

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 "housewife"?
"housewife" is spelled H-O-U-S-E-W-I-F-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈhaʊs.waɪf/.
What does "housewife" mean?
As a noun, "housewife" means: A woman whose main employment is homemaking, maintaining the upkeep of her home and tending to household affairs; often, such a woman whose sole [unpaid] employment is homemaking.
What are common misspellings of "housewife"?
Common misspellings include "hhousewife", "hosuewife", "houeswife", "houseiwfe", "housewfie". The correct spelling is "housewife".
How do you pronounce "housewife"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "housewife" is /ˈhaʊs.waɪf/. 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 "housewife"?
From Middle English houswyf, housewif, huswijf, equivalent to house + wife; a doublet of hussy, which it was long distinguished from and displaced due to gradual negative connotation (see Online Etymology Dictionary entry). Cognate with West Frisi... 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 “housewife”

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

  • The one correct English spelling is H-O-U-S-E-W-I-F-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ˈhaʊs.waɪf/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • 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