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” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #15,190) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#15,190
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A color, or shade of color; tint; dye.

Corpus desk

Index EN-hue · hue · English

hue · rank #15,190 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #15,190
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH horsepower

Nearest frequency peer: horsepower (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “hue”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “hue” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

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 →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for hue is neighbouring look-alikes ("hv", "huh", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /hjuː/. Frequency #15,190 among 2,646 “H” headwords. 4 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

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.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how hue appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. A great chocolate-coloured pall lowered over heaven, but the wind was continually charging and routing these embattled vapours; so that as the cab crawled from street to street, Mr. Utterson beheld a marvellous number of degrees and hues of twilight; for here it would be dark like the back-end of evening; and there would be a glow of a rich, lurid brown,…
  2. In digital arts, HSV color uses hue together with saturation and value.

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "hue", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

elk#15,157EDT#15,155nan#15,226Cub#15,140

What to do next

You've looked up "hue". Here's where to go from here.

  • "hue" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "hv". View pair
  • Usage frequency rank #15,190 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "H" letter cohort. H–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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