Which to use
“heads” is an intj and “hearse” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,159
- “heads” frequency rank
- #37,023
- “hearse” frequency rank
- 39182
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | heads | hearse |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A shouted warning that something is falling from above, mind your heads; heads-up. | A framework of wood or metal placed over the coffin or tomb of a deceased person, and covered with a pall; also, a temporary canopy bearing wax lights and set up in a church, under which the coffin was placed during the funeral ceremonies. |
Where the eye mixes heads and hearse
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between heads and hearse
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: heads is /hɛdz/ while hearse is /hɜːs/. 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 (intj vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39182, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
heads is recorded at frequency rank #2,159, classified as anintj, pronounced /hɛdz/. hearse is at rank #37,023, tagged as anoun, pronounced /hɜːs/.
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 39182, this pair ranks #279,089 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of heads vs hearse
Shared letters: aehs. Private to "heads": d. Private to "hearse": r.
"heads" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "hearse" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "heads" for "hearse" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "heads" or "hearse" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "heads" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hearse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #279,089 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "heads" and "hearse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hearse 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 #279,089 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.