whisper
/ˈ(h)wɪspə/
"whisper" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“whisper” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #10,637 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #10,637
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 10
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The act of speaking in a quiet voice, especially without vibration of the vocal cords.
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 | whisper |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈ(h)wɪspə/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #10,637 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 10 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “whisper” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for whisper is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈ(h)wɪspə/. Corpus data places it at rank #10,637 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for whisper, with forms such as "hwisper", "whhisper", and "whipser". 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 10 confusable-pair relationships, "wiser", "wiper", "whopper", 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 Middle English whisperen, from Old English hwisprian (“to mutter, murmur, whisper”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwisprōn, from Proto-Germanic *hwisprōną (“to hiss, whistle, whisper”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱweys-, *ḱwey- (“to hiss, whistle, whisper”… The correct English form is whisper, spelled W-H-I-S-P-E-R.
Definition
- 1The act of speaking in a quiet voice, especially without vibration of the vocal cords.
- 2A rumor.
- 3A faint trace or hint (of something).
- 4A low rustling sound, like that of the wind in leaves.
- 5A private message to an individual in a chat room.
- 6A projection of intention and influence caused by sending thoughts or desires outward through softly-spoken words or subtle mental or energetic means.
Etymology
From Middle English whisperen, from Old English hwisprian (“to mutter, murmur, whisper”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwisprōn, from Proto-Germanic *hwisprōną (“to hiss, whistle, whisper”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱweys-, *ḱwey- (“to hiss, whistle, whisper”). Cognate with Dutch wisperen (“to whisper”), German wispern (“to mumble, whisper”). Related also to Danish hviske (“to whisper”), Icelandic hvískra (“to whisper”), Norwegian Bokmål hviske, kviskre (“to whisper”), Norwegian Nynorsk kviskre, kviskra (“to whisper”), Swedish viska (“to whisper”). More at English whistle.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: hwisper,whhisper,whipser,whisepr,whisperr,whispper,whispre,whissper,whsiper,wihsper,wwhisper
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of whisper - 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 "whisper"?
What does "whisper" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "whisper"?
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Using “whisper”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is W-H-I-S-P-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈ(h)wɪspə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “wiser” - see the side-by-side comparison. whisper vs wiser
- 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.