Which to use
“abhor” is a verb and “abort” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,591
- “abhor” frequency rank
- #20,277
- “abort” frequency rank
- 64868
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abhor | abort |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To regard (someone or something) as horrifying or detestable; to feel great repugnance toward. | An early termination of a mission, action, or procedure in relation to missiles or spacecraft; the craft making such a mission. |
Where the eye mixes abhor and abort
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses abhor with abort
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: abhor is /əbˈhɔː/ while abort is /əˈbɔːt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64868, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
abhor is recorded at frequency rank #44,591, classified as averb, pronounced /əbˈhɔː/. abort is at rank #20,277, tagged as anoun, pronounced /əˈbɔːt/.
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 64868, this pair ranks #75,563 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of abhor vs abort
Shared letters: abor. Private to "abhor": h. Private to "abort": t.
"abhor" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "abort" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "abhor" for "abort" ever safe?
Which is more common, "abhor" or "abort"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "abhor" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "abort" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #75,563 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abhor" and "abort" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abhor vs ahoy". 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 #75,563 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.