hep vs hic, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“hep” is a noun and “hic” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#34,523
“hep” frequency rank: #49,392
“hic” frequency rank: 83915
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	hep	hic
Definition	hepatitis.	An approximation to the sound of a hiccup, used e.g. to indicate drunkenness.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hep and hic apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

hep

3 ch

hic

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hep is /hɛp/ while hic is /hɪk/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 83915, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hep is recorded at frequency rank #34,523, classified as anoun, pronounced /hɛp/. hic is at rank #49,392, tagged as anintj, pronounced /hɪk/.

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 83915, this pair ranks #12,941 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of hep vs hic

Shared letters: h. Private to "hep": ep. Private to "hic": ci.

"hep" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "hic" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequency comparison

hep#34,523

hic#49,392

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hep" and "hic" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hep" is a noun and "hic" an intj, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "hep" or "hic"?

"hep" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,523 in our English list, against #49,392 for "hic". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering hep vs hic

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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