Which to use
“hark” and “harry” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,592
- “hark” frequency rank
- #1,943
- “harry” frequency rank
- 38535
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hark | harry |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To listen attentively. | To plunder, pillage, assault. |
Where the eye mixes hark and harry
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. hark runs 4 letters (CVCC) against harry's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses hark with harry
A purely visual mix-up. hark (/hɑː(ɹ)k/) and harry (/ˈhæɹ.i/) 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 38535, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hark is recorded at frequency rank #36,592, classified as averb, pronounced /hɑː(ɹ)k/. harry is at rank #1,943, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈhæɹ.i/.
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 38535, this pair ranks #285,049 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hark vs harry
Shared letters: ahr. Private to "hark": k. Private to "harry": y.
"hark" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "harry" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hark" for "harry" ever safe?
Frequency check: "hark" vs "harry" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "hark" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "harry" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #285,049 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hark" and "harry" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hark 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 #285,049 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.