Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

heck

/hɛk/

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: 4.02 in modern English

Syllables: heck
IPA: /hɛk/

13

Scrabble Score

4

Letters

1

Syllables

4

Unique Chars

Meaning

intj

noun

Uncountable

verb

to break, to destroy

Informal

verb

Informal

noun

The bolt or latch of a door.

Informal

noun

A rack for cattle to feed at.

Informal

noun

A door, especially one partly of latticework.

Informal; Obsolete

noun

A latticework contrivance for catching fish.

Informal

Example Sentences

"Heck, what did I expect? It's too muddy out to go biking today."
"You can go to heck as far as I'm concerned."
""And the railway industry needs a heck of a lot of people to be up-skilled," notes Darroch."

Etymology

Late 19th century, originally dialectal northern English, from a euphemistic alteration of hell.

Origin

Source language: Dutch

Word Breakdown

Root: -

Usage

Inflected Forms

hecc (alternative) hecks (present, singular) hecking (participle, present) hecked (participle, past) hecked (past) hecks (plural) hack (alternative)

Derived Forms

hecka heckfire heckhound heckin' heckin hecking heckuva

Phrases

as heck bleeding heck bloody heck blooming heck chuffing heck for the heck of it go to heck heck board

Synonyms

fuck bork heck-box under hell

Rhymes With

check tech high-tech neck low-tech deck sec dec quebec wreck trek czech

Questions

How do you pronounce heck?: The recorded pronunciation is /hɛk/.
What does heck mean?: Hell.
Where does heck come from?: It is traced to Dutch.

How to pronounce heck

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “heck”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/hɛk/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “heck”.
Repeat and practice — Say “heck” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.