Which to use
“hed” is a noun and “holed” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,253
- “hed” frequency rank
- #27,497
- “holed” frequency rank
- 71750
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hed | holed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The headline of a news story. | simple past and past participle of hole |
Letter map: hed vs holed
Shared letters muted; letters that set hed and holed apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. hed runs 3 letters (CVC) against holed's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Grammar separator: hed vs holed
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: hed is anoun and holedaverb. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71750, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hed is recorded at frequency rank #44,253, classified as anoun. holed is at rank #27,497, tagged as averb, pronounced /hoʊld/.
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 71750, this pair ranks #45,566 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of hed vs holed
Shared letters: deh. Private to "hed": -. Private to "holed": lo.
"hed" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "holed" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- holed ← hholed · hloed · hoeld · holde · holedd · holled · ohled
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "hed" and "holed" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "hed" or "holed"?
Useful next steps
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "hed" and "holed".
- Full dictionary entry for "hed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "holed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #45,566 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hed" and "holed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hed vs HRW". 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 #45,566 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.