arsehole vs asshole, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“arsehole” and “asshole” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#36,874
“arsehole” frequency rank: #3,998
“asshole” frequency rank: 40872
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	arsehole	asshole
Definition	The anus.	The anus.

Where the eye mixes arsehole and asshole

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch

arsehole

7 ch

asshole

Look-alike desk: arsehole vs asshole

A purely visual mix-up. arsehole (/ˈɑː(ɹ)s.hoʊl/) and asshole (/æshoʊl/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40872, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

arsehole is recorded at frequency rank #36,874, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɑː(ɹ)s.hoʊl/. asshole is at rank #3,998, tagged as anoun, pronounced /æshoʊl/.

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 40872, this pair ranks #263,652 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of arsehole vs asshole

Shared letters: aehlos. Private to "arsehole": r. Private to "asshole": -.

"arsehole" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV · "asshole" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

arsehole ← areshole · arrsehole · arsehhole · arsehloe · arsehoel · arseholle · arseohle · arsheole
asshole ← ashole · ashsole · asshhole · asshloe · asshoel · assholle · assohle · sashole

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "arsehole" for "asshole" ever safe?

No. They are said differently (/ˈɑː(ɹ)s.hoʊl/ versus /æshoʊl/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

In ordinary English text, does "arsehole" or "asshole" show up more?

"asshole" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,998 in our English list, against #36,874 for "arsehole". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

Full dictionary entry for "arsehole" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "asshole" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #263,652 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"arsehole" and "asshole" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ashore vs asshole". 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 #263,652 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.