hm

\m\

/\m\/ intj

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

The verdict

“hm” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #16,903) as an interjection. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#16,903
frequency rank, French
1,969
“H” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Variante de hem et hmm.

Corpus desk

Index FR-hm · hm · French

hm · rank #16,903 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #16,903
  • LEN-SHORT 2 letters
  • VOW-0 0 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,969
  • PHOTO-FINISH hivers

Nearest frequency peer: hivers (-1 rank slots)

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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “hm”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “hm” sits against the nearest ranked French headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

hm vs hp
50% similar
hm vs Hs
0% similar
hm vs hr
50% similar

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

Key facts for hm
PropertyValue
Headwordhm
LanguageFrench
Part of speechInterjection
IPA\m\
Letters2
Frequency rank#16,903
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Où “hm” se place dans la fréquence du français

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).hmse place ici:

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

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « hivers » (#16,902), « health » (#16,901), « illimitée » (#16,905). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for hm is neighbouring look-alikes ("hp", "Hs", …), not just typos; it is aninterjection pronounced \m\. Frequency #16,903 among 1,969 “H” headwords. Gloss: "Variante de hem et hmm.".

hm doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "hp", "Hs", "hr", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is hm, spelled H-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    Variante de hem et hmm.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Pas de distinguos, pas de dialectique, rien de tout cela. Je veux du solide. J’écoute. − Hm hm, fit Onésiphore. Je ne puis répondre aux trois questions simultanément : mon discours est linéaire, comme tout discours humain. − Où veux-tu en venir ?
  2. […] ; ils percèrent les secrets de ce « hm » universel, véritable intonation magique, par lequel l’interviewer ponctue le discours de l’interviewé, le met en confiance, le comprend, l’encourage, l’interroge, le menace même parfois.

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 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "hm"?
"hm" is spelled H-M. The IPA pronunciation is \m\.
What does "hm" mean?
As an interjection, "hm" means: Variante de hem et hmm.
What words are commonly confused with "hm"?
"hm" is commonly confused with "hp", "Hs", "hr". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "hm"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "hm" is \m\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "hm" come from?
"hm" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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.

What to do next

You've looked up "hm". Here's where to go from here.

  • "hm" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "hp". View pair
  • Usage frequency rank #16,903 among French headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more French words in the "H" letter cohort. H–Z browse

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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