Which to use
“hacks” and “hawk” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,039
- “hacks” frequency rank
- #9,477
- “hawk” frequency rank
- 25516
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hacks | hawk |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of hack | A diurnal predatory bird of the family Accipitridae, smaller than an eagle. |
Where the eye mixes hacks and hawk
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: hacks vs hawk
A purely visual mix-up. hacks (/hæks/) and hawk (/ˈhɔːk/) 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 25516, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hacks is recorded at frequency rank #16,039, classified as anoun, pronounced /hæks/. hawk is at rank #9,477, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈhɔːk/.
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 25516, this pair ranks #393,687 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hacks vs hawk
Shared letters: ahk. Private to "hacks": cs. Private to "hawk": w.
"hacks" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "hawk" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hacks" for "hawk" ever safe?
Which is more common, "hacks" or "hawk"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "hacks" and "hawk" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "hacks" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hawk" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #393,687 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hacks" and "hawk" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hacks vs hocus". 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 #393,687 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.