humble
/ˈhʌmbəl/
"humble" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“humble” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #5,973 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #5,973
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 11
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Not pretentious or magnificent; unpretending; unassuming.
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 | humble |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈhʌmbəl/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #5,973 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 11 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “humble” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for humble is 6 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈhʌmbəl/. Corpus data places it at rank #5,973 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for humble, with forms such as "hhumble", "hmuble", and "hubmle". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 11 confusable-pair relationships, "Hume", "hustle", "hurdle", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English humble, from Old French humble, umble, humle, from Latin humilis (“low, slight, hence mean, humble”) (compare Greek χαμηλός (khamēlós, “on the ground, low, trifling”)), from humus (“the earth, ground”), humi (“on the ground”). See homage… The correct English form is humble, spelled H-U-M-B-L-E.
Definition
- 1Not pretentious or magnificent; unpretending; unassuming.
- 2Having a low opinion of oneself; not proud, arrogant, or assuming; modest.
Etymology
From Middle English humble, from Old French humble, umble, humle, from Latin humilis (“low, slight, hence mean, humble”) (compare Greek χαμηλός (khamēlós, “on the ground, low, trifling”)), from humus (“the earth, ground”), humi (“on the ground”). See homage, and compare chameleon, humiliate. Displaced native Old English ēaþmōd.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: hhumble,hmuble,hubmle,humbble,humbel,humblle,humlbe,hummble,uhmble
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of humble - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 "humble"?
What does "humble" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "humble"?
How do you pronounce "humble"?
What is the origin of the word "humble"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “humble”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is H-U-M-B-L-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈhʌmbəl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Hume” - see the side-by-side comparison. humble vs Hume
- 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.