however
/haʊˈɛvə/
"however" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“however” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #237 in English word frequency and used as an adverb.
- #237
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Nevertheless; yet, still; in spite of that.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | however |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | /haʊˈɛvə/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #237 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “however” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for however is 7 letters long, classified as an adverb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /haʊˈɛvə/. Corpus data places it at rank #237 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for however, with forms such as "hhowever", "hoewver", and "howeevr". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "hover", "Hoover", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English however, how-ever, how-evere; equivalent to how + ever. Compare howsoever. The correct English form is however, spelled H-O-W-E-V-E-R.
Definition
- 1Nevertheless; yet, still; in spite of that.
- 2In contrast.
- 3Regardless of how; no matter how
- 4Regardless of how; regardless of the way in which.
- 5In any way in which; how.
- 6In any way that one likes or chooses; in a haphazard or spontaneous way.
- 7How ever: an emphatic form of how, used to ask in what manner.
- 8In any case, at any rate, at all events.
Etymology
From Middle English however, how-ever, how-evere; equivalent to how + ever. Compare howsoever.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: hhowever,hoewver,howeevr,howeverr,howevre,howevver,howveer,howwever,hwoever,ohwever
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of however - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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
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Using “however”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is H-O-W-E-V-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /haʊˈɛvə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “hover” - see the side-by-side comparison. however vs hover
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.