Which to use
“header” and “headgear” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,552
- “header” frequency rank
- #34,518
- “headgear” frequency rank
- 43070
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | header | headgear |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The upper portion of a page (or other) layout. | Anything worn on the head, such as a hat, hood, helmet, etc. |
Where the eye mixes header and headgear
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. header runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against headgear's 8 (CVVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: header vs headgear
A purely visual mix-up. header (/ˈhɛdɚ/) and headgear (/ˈhɛdɡɪə(ɹ)/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43070, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
header is recorded at frequency rank #8,552, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈhɛdɚ/. headgear is at rank #34,518, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈhɛdɡɪə(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 43070, this pair ranks #243,498 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of header vs headgear
Shared letters: adehr. Private to "header": -. Private to "headgear": g.
"header" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "headgear" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "header" and "headgear" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "header" vs "headgear" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "header" and "headgear" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "header" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "headgear" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #243,498 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "header" and "headgear" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "header vs Heaney". 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 #243,498 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.