hue

/hjuː/

//hjuː// noun

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

"hue" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“hue” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #15,190 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#15,190
frequency rank, English
3
letters
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A color, or shade of color; tint; dye.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

hue vs hv
33% similar
hue vs huh
67% similar
hue vs hug
67% similar

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

Key facts for hue
PropertyValue
Headwordhue
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/hjuː/
Letters3
Frequency rank#15,190
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “hue” 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). hue lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for hue is 3 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /hjuː/. Corpus data places it at rank #15,190 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

No misspelling variants are generated for hue in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "hv", "huh", "hug", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English hewe, from Old English hīew (“appearance, form, species, kind; apparition; hue, color; beauty; figure of speech”), from Proto-West Germanic *hiwi, from Proto-Germanic *hiwją (“hue, form, shape, appearance; mildew”), from Proto-Indo-Europ… The correct English form is hue, spelled H-U-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A color, or shade of color; tint; dye.
  2. 2
    The characteristic related to the light frequency that appears in the color, for instance red, yellow, green, cyan, blue or magenta.
  3. 3
    A character; aspect.
  4. 4
    Form; appearance; guise.

Etymology

From Middle English hewe, from Old English hīew (“appearance, form, species, kind; apparition; hue, color; beauty; figure of speech”), from Proto-West Germanic *hiwi, from Proto-Germanic *hiwją (“hue, form, shape, appearance; mildew”), from Proto-Indo-European *kew-, *ḱew- (“skin, colour of the skin”) or *ḱey- (“grey, dark shade”). Cognate with Swedish hy (“complexion, skin”), Norwegian hy (“fluff, mold, skin”), Icelandic hégómi (“vanity”), Gothic 𐌷𐌹𐍅𐌹 (hiwi, “form, show, appearance”). Compare also Sanskrit छवि (chavi, “cuticle, skin, hide; beauty, splendour”); Irish ceo (“fog”), Tocharian B kwele (“black, dark grey”), Lithuanian šývas (“light grey”), Albanian thinjë (“grey”), Sanskrit श्याव (śyāvá, “brown”).

This word in other languages

color(Español)teinte(Français)Farbton(Deutsch)matiz(Português)

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 "hue"?
"hue" is spelled H-U-E. The IPA pronunciation is /hjuː/.
What does "hue" mean?
As a noun, "hue" means: A color, or shade of color; tint; dye.
What words are commonly confused with "hue"?
"hue" is commonly confused with "hv", "huh", "hug". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "hue"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "hue" is /hjuː/. 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 "hue"?
From Middle English hewe, from Old English hīew (“appearance, form, species, kind; apparition; hue, color; beauty; figure of speech”), from Proto-West Germanic *hiwi, from Proto-Germanic *hiwją (“hue, form, shape, appearance; mildew”), from Proto-... 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 “hue”

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

  • The one correct English spelling is H-U-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /hjuː/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “hv” - see the side-by-side comparison. hue vs hv
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list