Which to use
“hear” and “heave” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #588
- “hear” frequency rank
- #32,841
- “heave” frequency rank
- 33429
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hear | heave |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To perceive sounds through the ear. | To lift with difficulty; to raise with some effort; to lift (a heavy thing). |
Where the eye mixes hear and heave
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: hear vs heave
A purely visual mix-up. hear (/ˈhɪə/) and heave (/hiːv/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33429, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hear is recorded at frequency rank #588, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈhɪə/. heave is at rank #32,841, tagged as averb, pronounced /hiːv/.
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 33429, this pair ranks #329,539 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hear vs heave
Shared letters: aeh. Private to "hear": r. Private to "heave": v.
"hear" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "heave" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hear" for "heave" ever safe?
Which is more common, "hear" or "heave"?
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 "hear" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "heave" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #329,539 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hear" and "heave" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "heave 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 #329,539 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.