Which to use
“haste” is a noun and “hist” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,853
- “haste” frequency rank
- #34,524
- “hist” frequency rank
- 52377
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | haste | hist |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Speed; swiftness; dispatch. | An utterance used to discreetly attract someone's attention. |
Where the eye mixes haste and hist
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. haste runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against hist's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: haste vs hist
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: haste is /heɪst/ while hist is /hɪst/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52377, 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/. hist is at rank #34,524, tagged as anintj, pronounced /hɪst/.
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 52377, this pair ranks #157,554 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of haste vs hist
Shared letters: hst. Private to "haste": ae. Private to "hist": i.
"haste" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "hist" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "haste" and "hist" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "haste" vs "hist" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "haste" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hist" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #157,554 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "haste" and "hist" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "HIIT vs hist". 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 #157,554 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.