Which to use
“heavy” is an adjective and “hey” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,170
- “heavy” frequency rank
- #787
- “hey” frequency rank
- 1957
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | heavy | hey |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Having great weight. | An exclamation to get attention. |
Where the eye mixes heavy and hey
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses heavy with hey
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: heavy is /ˈhɛv.i/ while hey is /heɪ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1957, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
heavy is recorded at frequency rank #1,170, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈhɛv.i/. hey is at rank #787, tagged as anintj, pronounced /heɪ/.
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 1957, this pair ranks #526,199 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of heavy vs hey
Shared letters: ehy. Private to "heavy": av. Private to "hey": -.
"heavy" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "hey" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- heavy ← ehavy · haevy · heavvy · heavyy · heayv · hevay · hheavy
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "heavy" for "hey" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "heavy" or "hey" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "heavy" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hey" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #526,199 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "heavy" and "hey" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "heavy vs Henny". 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 #526,199 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.