hastevshaterWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#17,853
“haste” frequency rank
#24,183
“hater” frequency rank
42036
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature haste hater
Definition Speed; swiftness; dispatch. One who hates.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set haste and hater apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
haste
5 ch
hater

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. haste (/heɪst/) and hater (/ˈheɪtə(ɹ)/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42036, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

haste is recorded at frequency rank #17,853, classified as anoun, pronounced /heɪst/. hater is at rank #24,183, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈheɪtə(ɹ)/.

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 42036, this pair ranks #252,894 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of haste vs hater

Shared letters: aeht. Private to "haste": s. Private to "hater": r.

"haste" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "hater" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hasteahste · haset · hasste · hastte · hhaste · hsate
  • haterahter · haetr · haterr · hatre · hhater · htaer

Frequency comparison

haste#17,853
hater#24,183

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "haste" and "hater" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/heɪst/ versus /ˈheɪtə(ɹ)/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "haste" or "hater"?
"haste" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,853 in our English list, against #24,183 for "hater". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering haste vs hater

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “haste” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list