Which to use
“hearse” and “hearts” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,023
- “hearse” frequency rank
- #3,367
- “hearts” frequency rank
- 40390
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hearse | hearts |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 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. | plural of heart |
Where the eye mixes hearse and hearts
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. hearse (CVVCCV) and hearts (CVVCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses hearse with hearts
A purely visual mix-up. hearse (/hɜːs/) and hearts (/hɑːts/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40390, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hearse is recorded at frequency rank #37,023, classified as anoun, pronounced /hɜːs/. hearts is at rank #3,367, tagged as anoun, pronounced /hɑːts/.
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 40390, this pair ranks #268,035 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hearse vs hearts
Shared letters: aehrs. Private to "hearse": -. Private to "hearts": t.
"hearse" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "hearts" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "hearse" and "hearts" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "hearse" or "hearts"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "hearse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hearts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #268,035 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hearse" and "hearts" 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 #268,035 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.