hedvshodWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: hed is a noun, hod is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“hed” is a noun and “hod” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#44,253
“hed” frequency rank
#49,395
“hod” frequency rank
93648
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hed hod
Definition The headline of a news story. To bob up and down on horseback, as an inexperienced rider may do; to jog.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hed and hod apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
hed
3 ch
hod

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: hed is anoun and hodaverb. On the page they differ by a single letter - e in “hed” becomes o in “hod”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 93648, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hed is recorded at frequency rank #44,253, classified as anoun. hod is at rank #49,395, tagged as averb, pronounced /hɒd/.

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 93648, this pair ranks #1,770 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of hed vs hod

Shared letters: dh. Private to "hed": e. Private to "hod": o.

"hed" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "hod" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequency comparison

hed#44,253
hod#49,395

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hed" and "hod" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hed" is a noun and "hod" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "hed" or "hod"?
"hed" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #44,253 in our English list, against #49,395 for "hod". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering hed vs hod

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “hed”; for a verb, it's “hod”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “hed” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list