Which to use
“hacks” is a noun and “hocus” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #16,039
- “hacks” frequency rank
- #48,804
- “hocus” frequency rank
- 64843
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hacks | hocus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of hack | To play a trick on, to trick (someone); to hoax; to cheat. |
Where the eye mixes hacks and hocus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between hacks and hocus
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hacks is /hæks/ while hocus is /ˈhəʊkəs/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64843, 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/. hocus is at rank #48,804, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈhəʊkəs/.
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 64843, this pair ranks #75,695 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of hacks vs hocus
Shared letters: chs. Private to "hacks": ak. Private to "hocus": ou.
"hacks" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "hocus" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "hacks" and "hocus" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "hacks" or "hocus" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "hacks" and "hocus" 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 "hocus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #75,695 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hacks" and "hocus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hocus vs hoss". 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 #75,695 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.