hurdles

noun

"hurdles" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“hurdles” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #14,138. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#14,138
frequency rank, English
23,837
“H” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
5
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A sport where athletes or animals run along a track obstructed by regularly placed hurdles that must be leapt over.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

hurdles vs hurley
71% similar
hurdles vs hurled
71% similar
hurdles vs hurdle
86% similar

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

Key facts for hurdles
PropertyValue
Headwordhurdles
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters7
Frequency rank#14,138
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs5
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “hurdles” 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). hurdles lands here:

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

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

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around hurdles, anoun. Corpus frequency is #14,138 among 23,837 “H” headwords. Dominant gloss: "A sport where athletes or animals run along a track obstructed by regularly placed hurdles that must be leapt over.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for hurdles, with forms such as "hhurdles", "hrudles", and "hudrles". 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 5 confusable-pair relationships, "hurley", "hurled", "hurdle", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct English form is hurdles, spelled H-U-R-D-L-E-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    A sport where athletes or animals run along a track obstructed by regularly placed hurdles that must be leapt over.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: hhurdles,hrudles,hudrles,hurddles,hurdels,hurdless,hurdlles,hurdlse,hurldes,hurrdles,uhrdles

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of hurdles - 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.

hhurdles1hrudles2hudrles2hurddles1hurdels2hurdless1hurdlles1hurdlse2
Edit distance from "hurdles"

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 "hurdles"?
"hurdles" is spelled H-U-R-D-L-E-S.
What does "hurdles" mean?
As a noun, "hurdles" means: A sport where athletes or animals run along a track obstructed by regularly placed hurdles that must be leapt over.
What words are commonly confused with "hurdles"?
"hurdles" is commonly confused with "hurley", "hurled", "hurdle". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What language does "hurdles" come from?
"hurdles" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 “hurdles”

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

  • The one correct English spelling is H-U-R-D-L-E-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Don't mix it up with “hurley” - see the side-by-side comparison. hurdles vs hurley
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Same frequency band

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