Which to use
“hares” and “hats” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,482
- “hares” frequency rank
- #7,017
- “hats” frequency rank
- 44499
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hares | hats |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of hare | plural of hat |
Where the eye mixes hares and hats
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between hares and hats
A purely visual mix-up. hares (/hɛɚz/) and hats (/hæts/) 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 44499, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hares is recorded at frequency rank #37,482, classified as anoun, pronounced /hɛɚz/. hats is at rank #7,017, tagged as anoun, pronounced /hæts/.
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 44499, this pair ranks #229,967 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hares vs hats
Shared letters: ahs. Private to "hares": er. Private to "hats": t.
"hares" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "hats" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hares" for "hats" ever safe?
Frequency check: "hares" vs "hats" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "hares" and "hats" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "hares" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hats" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #229,967 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hares" and "hats" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hares vs Hoare". 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 #229,967 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.