Which to use
“hi” is a phrase and “high” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,300
- “hi” frequency rank
- #2,301
- “high” frequency rank
- 4601
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hi | high |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | freundschaftliche, familiäre mündliche Begrüßung bei persönlichen Begegnungen und Telefongesprächen, bei denen der Angerufene weiß, wer ihn anruft (so dass auf eine Nennung des Namens verzichtet werden kann) | von Drogen/Rauschgift berauscht |
Same sound, different letters: hi vs high
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 2 letters.
Ear matches; page differs - hi and high
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: hi and high carry the same recorded pronunciation, [haɪ̯]. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is aphrase, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “hi” sits inside “high”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4601, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hi is recorded at frequency rank #2,300, classified as aphrase, pronounced [haɪ̯]. high is at rank #2,301, tagged as anadj, pronounced [haɪ̯].
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 4601, this pair ranks #1,997,236 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of hi vs high
Shared letters: hi. Private to "hi": -. Private to "high": g.
"hi" · 2 letters · shape CV · "high" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- high ← hgih · hhigh · higgh · highh · hihg · ihgh
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hi" for "high" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "hi" or "high" show up more?
What to do next
"hi" and "high" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "hi" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "high" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,997,236 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hi" and "high" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "high vs höh". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #1,997,236 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.