whom

/huːm/

//huːm// pron

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

"whom" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“whom” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,513. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,513
frequency rank, English
1,759
“W” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - What person or people; which person or people.

Corpus desk

Index EN-whom · whom · English

whom · rank #1,513 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,513
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,759
  • PHOTO-FINISH who's

Nearest frequency peer: who's (-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 “whom”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “whom” 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

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

whom vs wo
50% similar
whom vs why
50% similar
whom vs won
50% similar

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

Key facts for whom
PropertyValue
Headwordwhom
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechPronoun
IPA/huːm/
Letters4
Frequency rank#1,513
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “whom”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).whomlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “who's” (#1,512), “wonderful” (#1,514), “wearing” (#1,511). Among 1,759 “W” headwords, “whom” is #1,513. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around whom (IPA /huːm/), apronoun. Corpus frequency is #1,513 among 1,759 “W” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for whom, with forms such as "hwom", "whhom", and "whmo". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "wo", "why", "won", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English whom, wham, from Old English hwām, hwǣm, from Proto-Germanic *hwammai, dative case of *hwaz (“who, what”). Cognate with Scots wham (“whom”), German wem (“whom, to whom”), Danish hvem (“who, whom”), Swedish vem (“who, whom”). The correct English form is whom, spelled W-H-O-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    What person or people; which person or people.
  2. 2
    What person or people; which person or people.
  3. 3
    Used to refer to a previously mentioned person or people.
  4. 4
    The person(s) whom; whomever.
  5. 5
    Also used with names of collective nouns that are groups of people, especially singularly-named musical groups or sports teams.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Whom did you ask?
  2. “Oh?” she said. “So you have decided to revise my guest list for me? You have the nerve, the – the –” I saw she needed helping out. “Audacity,” I said, throwing her the line. “The audacity to dictate to me who I shall have in my house.” It should have been “whom”, but I let it go. “You have the –” “Crust.” “– the immortal rind,” she amended, and I had to…

Etymology

From Middle English whom, wham, from Old English hwām, hwǣm, from Proto-Germanic *hwammai, dative case of *hwaz (“who, what”). Cognate with Scots wham (“whom”), German wem (“whom, to whom”), Danish hvem (“who, whom”), Swedish vem (“who, whom”).

This word in other languages

quién(Español)que(Français)wen(Deutsch)quem(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • hwom
  • whhom
  • whmo
  • whomm
  • wohm
  • wwhom

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of whom - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

hwom2whhom1whmo2whomm1wohm2wwhom1
Edit distance from "whom"

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 "whom"?
"whom" is spelled W-H-O-M. The IPA pronunciation is /huːm/.
What does "whom" mean?
As a pronoun, "whom" means: What person or people; which person or people.
What words are commonly confused with "whom"?
"whom" is commonly confused with "wo", "why", "won". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "whom"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "whom" is /huːm/. 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 "whom"?
From Middle English whom, wham, from Old English hwām, hwǣm, from Proto-Germanic *hwammai, dative case of *hwaz (“who, what”). Cognate with Scots wham (“whom”), German wem (“whom, to whom”), Danish hvem (“who, whom”), Swedish vem (“who, whom”). 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 "whom", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

tree#1,508slow#1,504ride#1,498runs#1,535

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

begin6 variantsideas6 variantsglass6 variantswind6 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list