hyphen
/ˈhaɪ.fən/
"hyphen" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“hyphen” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #44,854 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #44,854
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 4
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The symbol "‐", typically used to join two or more words to form a compound term, or to indicate that a word has been split at the end of a line.
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 | hyphen |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈhaɪ.fən/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #44,854 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 4 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “hyphen” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for hyphen is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈhaɪ.fən/. Corpus data places it at rank #44,854 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for hyphen, with forms such as "hhyphen", "hpyhen", and "hyhpen". 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 4 confusable-pair relationships, "hype", "hyped", "hymen", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Late Latin, from Ancient Greek ὑφέν (huphén, “together”), contracted from ὑφ’ ἕν (huph’ hén, “under one”), from ὑπό (hupó, “under”) + ἕν (hén, “one”), neuter of εἷς (heîs, “one”). The correct English form is hyphen, spelled H-Y-P-H-E-N.
Definition
- 1The symbol "‐", typically used to join two or more words to form a compound term, or to indicate that a word has been split at the end of a line.
- 2Something which links two things of greater significance than itself.
- 3Something which links two things of greater significance than itself.
- 4Someone who belongs to a marginalized subgroup, and can therefore described by a hyphenated term, such as "German-American", "female-academic", etc.
Etymology
From Late Latin, from Ancient Greek ὑφέν (huphén, “together”), contracted from ὑφ’ ἕν (huph’ hén, “under one”), from ὑπό (hupó, “under”) + ἕν (hén, “one”), neuter of εἷς (heîs, “one”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: hhyphen,hpyhen,hyhpen,hypehn,hyphenn,hyphhen,hyphne,hypphen,hyyphen,yhphen
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of hyphen - 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 "hyphen"?
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Using “hyphen”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is H-Y-P-H-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈhaɪ.fən/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “hype” - see the side-by-side comparison. hyphen vs hype
- 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.