Which to use
“abhor” is a verb and “author” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,591
- “abhor” frequency rank
- #1,179
- “author” frequency rank
- 45770
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abhor | author |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To regard (someone or something) as horrifying or detestable; to feel great repugnance toward. | The originator or creator of a work, especially of a literary composition; or, one of the creators of a collaborative work. |
Where the eye mixes abhor and author
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between abhor and author
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: abhor is /əbˈhɔː/ while author is /ˈɔː.θə(ɹ)/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45770, 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/. author is at rank #1,179, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɔː.θə(ɹ)/.
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 45770, this pair ranks #218,099 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of abhor vs author
Shared letters: ahor. Private to "abhor": b. Private to "author": tu.
"abhor" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "author" · 6 letters · shape VVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "abhor" for "author" ever safe?
Frequency check: "abhor" vs "author" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "abhor" and "author" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "abhor" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "author" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #218,099 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abhor" and "author" 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 #218,099 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.