humdrum
/ˈhʌmdɹʌm/
"humdrum" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“humdrum” is uncommon English (frequency #57,441 among 2,646 “H” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #57,441
- frequency rank, English
- 2,646
- “H” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Lacking variety or excitement; dull; boring.
Corpus desk
Index EN-humdrum · humdrum · English
humdrum · rank #57,441 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #57,441
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,646
- PHOTO-FINISH HRD
Nearest frequency peer: HRD (-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.
Long-tail ranks near “humdrum”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- hoverboard
hoverboard
42,562 corpus weight
- HRD
HRD
42,561 corpus weight
- humdrum
humdrum
42,560 corpus weight
- hunker
hunker
42,559 corpus weight
- Huy
Huy
42,558 corpus weight
- ibu
ibu
42,556 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “humdrum” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | humdrum |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈhʌmdɹʌm/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #57,441 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “humdrum” in English
Rare enough to double-check
humdrum is uncommon English at frequency #57,441 among 2,646 “H” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈhʌmdɹʌm/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Lacking variety or excitement; dull; boring.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for humdrum, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: Possible reduplication of hum, 1550s. The correct English form is humdrum, spelled H-U-M-D-R-U-M.
Definition
- 1Lacking variety or excitement; dull; boring.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how humdrum appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
In the valley there would have been feasting and celebration, and then dancing at the wedding, and afterwards the turmoil of a brief romance turning to humdrum married life, the cares of her house, the cares of children, anxiety, fret, illness, trouble, the day-by-day routine of growing old.
He suggested cusk, because he knew they would have it. She had never heard of cusk. “Doesn't it sound exotic!” she said. “Exotic indeed!” he laughed, and almost told her what a humdrum fish it really was, but stopped himself.
Etymology
Possible reduplication of hum, 1550s.
This word in other languages
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "humdrum", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).