however

how·ev·er/haʊˈɛvɚ/adverb, conjunction

however is spelled H-O-W-E-V-E-R, 3 syllables: how·ev·er. The wrong spelling people search most is hoever: about 20 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 61 of all searches for the word. However is an adverb meaning “Nevertheless; yet, still; in spite of that”.

How many letters and syllables are in however?

Letters	7: H-O-W-E-V-E-R
Syllables	3: how·ev·er
In writing	380 times per million words; the 239th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searched	2; the most searched, hoever, about 20 Bing searches a month (all of them)
Rhymes with	never whatever forever whenever more
Same letters	whoever

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How do you spell however?

However is spelled H-O-W-E-V-E-R. 2 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 41 of the searches for however in either form.

howeverthe right spelling1,190 searches a month

hoevera missing w20 searches a month

howvera missing e10 searches a month

Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.

How common is however?

However appears 380 times per million words in written English, the 239th most frequent word form in the list.

however0.0010.010.11101001,00010,000

rarerper million words of written Englishmore common

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce however?

UK /haʊˈɛvə/
US /haʊˈɛvɚ/
/hɑˈwɛvə(ɹ)/

However has 3 syllables, split how·ev·er in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-however.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with however?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as however from its last stressed vowel (/ɛvəɹ/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: whoever.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

What does however mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adverb

1
Nevertheless; yet, still; in spite of that.
He told me not to do it. However, I did it anyway. / I did it anyway, however. / I, however, did it anyway.
2
In contrast.
The conference itself went very well. The party afterwards, however, was a disaster.
3
Regardless of how; no matter how
However clear you think you've been, and however many questions you may've answered, there'll always remain some doubts.
4
Regardless of how; regardless of the way in which.
Let me know when you've had your interview, however it goes.
5
In any way in which; how.
She offered to help however she could.
6
informalIn any way that one likes or chooses; in a haphazard or spontaneous way.
I don't care; just do it however.
7
How ever: an emphatic form of how, used to ask in what manner.
I thought it was impossible. However were you able to do it?
8
obsoleteIn any case, at any rate, at all events.
Our chief end and highest interest is happiness : And this is happiness to be freed from all (if it may) [or] however from the greatest evils.

conjunction

1
proscribedBut, yet, though, although.
*She wanted to go, however she decided against it.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

However in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

Language	Words
Spanish	por más, aunque más, por muy, por mucho (3. no matter how), mal que bien, bien que mal (5. in any way that one likes or chooses)
French	quoi qu'il en soit, d'ailleurs (5. in any way that one likes or chooses), peu importe (to whatever extent or degree)
German	wie auch immer (5. in any way that one likes or chooses), egal wie (to whatever extent or degree)
Portuguese	de qualquer forma (5. in any way that one likes or chooses)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does however come from?

From Middle English however, how-ever, how-evere; equivalent to how + -ever. Compare howsoever.