hurricane

/ˈhʌɹɪkən/

//ˈhʌɹɪkən// noun

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

"hurricane" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“hurricane” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #6,059. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#6,059
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords
11
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A severe tropical cyclone; an intense storm rotating around a central eye.

Corpus desk

Index EN-hurricane · hurricane · English

hurricane · rank #6,059 · 11 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,059
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH hunger

Nearest frequency peer: hunger (-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 “hurricane”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “hurricane” 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
Key facts for hurricane
PropertyValue
Headwordhurricane
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈhʌɹɪkən/
Letters9
Frequency rank#6,059
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “hurricane”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).hurricanelands 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. Same rarity band neighbours include “hunger” (#6,058), “import” (#6,061), “Holland” (#6,056). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “hurricane” is #6,059. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around hurricane (IPA /ˈhʌɹɪkən/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #6,059 among 2,646 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for hurricane, with forms such as "hhurricane", "hruricane", and "huricane". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Taíno *hurakābor. Spanish huracánbor. English hurricane Borrowed from Spanish huracán, ultimately from Taíno *hurakā. The correct English form is hurricane, spelled H-U-R-R-I-C-A-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A severe tropical cyclone; an intense storm rotating around a central eye.
  2. 2
    A severe tropical cyclone in the North Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, or in the eastern North Pacific off the west coast of Mexico, with winds of 119 km/h (74 miles per hour) or greater accompanied by rain, lightning, and thunder that sometimes moves into temperate latitudes.
  3. 3
    A great forceful onrush.
  4. 4
    A sweet alcoholic drink made with rum, lemon juice (or sometimes other fruit juice), and either passion fruit syrup or fassionola.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. THE HURRICANE OF AUGUST 1831. Calamitous as were the many eruptions of nature by which this island [Barbados] had suffered, the aggregate destruction produced by them was probably unequal to that effected by the storm of August 1831. That of 1675, according to the description given in history, very much resembled it in appearance, duration, and fury; but…
  2. Without going over the ground so well occupied by those able writers on the subject of storms — Redfield, Reid, Piddington, and Thom—it will be quite sufficient for our present purpose simply to notice the essential phænomena of revolving storms as manifested by the barometer and vane. The usual indications of a storm in connexion with these instruments a…

Etymology

Etymology tree Taíno *hurakābor. Spanish huracánbor. English hurricane Borrowed from Spanish huracán, ultimately from Taíno *hurakā.

This word in other languages

huracán(Español)ouragan(Français)Hurrikan(Deutsch)furacão(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • hhurricane
  • hruricane
  • huricane
  • hurircane
  • hurrciane
  • hurriacne
  • hurricaen
  • hurricanne
  • hurriccane
  • hurricnae
  • uhrricane

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

hhurricane1hruricane2huricane1hurircane2hurrciane2hurriacne2hurricaen2hurricanne1
Edit distance from "hurricane"

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 "hurricane"?
"hurricane" is spelled H-U-R-R-I-C-A-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈhʌɹɪkən/.
What does "hurricane" mean?
As a noun, "hurricane" means: A severe tropical cyclone; an intense storm rotating around a central eye.
What are common misspellings of "hurricane"?
Common misspellings include "hhurricane", "hruricane", "huricane", "hurircane", "hurrciane". The correct spelling is "hurricane".
How do you pronounce "hurricane"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "hurricane" is /ˈhʌɹɪkən/. 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 "hurricane"?
Etymology tree Taíno *hurakābor. Spanish huracánbor. English hurricane Borrowed from Spanish huracán, ultimately from Taíno *hurakā. 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 "hurricane", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

genuinely#6,054donations#6,045nutrition#6,075consensus#6,039

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

hardest11 variantsexamined11 variantspublish11 variantsbridges11 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list