HausvshocusWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Haus is a name, hocus is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Haus” is a name and “hocus” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38,426
“Haus” frequency rank
#48,804
“hocus” frequency rank
87230
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Haus hocus
Definition A surname To play a trick on, to trick (someone); to hoax; to cheat.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Haus and hocus apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
Haus
5 ch
hocus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: Haus is aname and hocusaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 87230, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Haus is recorded at frequency rank #38,426, classified as aname. 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 87230, this pair ranks #7,899 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Haus vs hocus

Shared letters: hsu. Private to "Haus": a. Private to "hocus": co.

"Haus" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "hocus" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Hausahus · hasu · hauss · hhaus · huas
  • hocushcous · hhocus · hoccus · hocsu · hocuss · houcs · ohcus

Frequency comparison

Haus#38,426
hocus#48,804

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Haus" and "hocus" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Haus" is a name and "hocus" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Haus" or "hocus"?
"Haus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,426 in our English list, against #48,804 for "hocus". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Haus vs hocus

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a name, it's “Haus”; for a verb, it's “hocus”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Haus” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list