humble

/ˈhʌmbəl/

//ˈhʌmbəl// adj

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

"humble" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“humble” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,973. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,973
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
11
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Not pretentious or magnificent; unpretending; unassuming.

Corpus desk

Index EN-humble · humble · English

humble · rank #5,973 · 9 variants · 11 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,973
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 11 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH hmm

Nearest frequency peer: hmm (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “humble”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “humble” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

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).

humble vs Hume
50% similar
humble vs hustle
67% similar
humble vs hurdle
67% similar

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

Key facts for humble
PropertyValue
Headwordhumble
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈhʌmbəl/
Letters6
Frequency rank#5,973
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs11
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “humble”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).humblelands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “hmm” (#5,972), “hurting” (#5,974), “harmony” (#5,971). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “humble” is #5,973. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around humble (IPA /ˈhʌmbəl/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #5,973 among 2,646 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

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

  1. 1
    Not pretentious or magnificent; unpretending; unassuming.
  2. 2
    Having a low opinion of oneself; not proud, arrogant, or assuming; modest.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. He lives in a humble one-bedroom cottage.
  2. 17th century, Abraham Cowley, The Shortness of Life and Uncertainty of Riches The wise example of the heavenly lark. Thy fellow poet, Cowley, mark, Above the clouds let thy proud music sound, Thy humble nest build on the ground.

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

abaseddemurediffidenthumblehumble-heartedlowmeekmildmodestresignedself-effacingunpretentiousverecund

Antonyms

arrogantimmodest

This word in other languages

modesto(Español)humble(Français)demütig(Deutsch)humilde(Português)

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.

hhumble1hmuble2hubmle2humbble1humbel2humblle1humlbe2hummble1
Edit distance from "humble"

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"?
"humble" is spelled H-U-M-B-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈhʌmbəl/.
What does "humble" mean?
As an adjective, "humble" means: Not pretentious or magnificent; unpretending; unassuming.
What words are commonly confused with "humble"?
"humble" is commonly confused with "Hume", "hustle", "hurdle". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "humble"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "humble" is /ˈhʌmbəl/. 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 "humble"?
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 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 "humble", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

hybrid#5,975freeze#5,965mixing#5,984openly#5,990

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

happily9 variantslocally9 variantsdental9 variantsparish9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list