Which to use
“het” is a noun and “hic” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #24,186
- “het” frequency rank
- #49,392
- “hic” frequency rank
- 73578
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | het | hic |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A heterosexual person. | An approximation to the sound of a hiccup, used e.g. to indicate drunkenness. |
Where the eye mixes het and hic
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses het with hic
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: het is /hɛt/ 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 73578, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
het is recorded at frequency rank #24,186, classified as anoun, pronounced /hɛt/. 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 73578, this pair ranks #39,159 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of het vs hic
Shared letters: h. Private to "het": et. Private to "hic": ci.
"het" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "hic" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "het" for "hic" ever safe?
Frequency check: "het" vs "hic" - which ranks higher?
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 "het" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hic" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #39,159 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "het" and "hic" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hic vs HIIT". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #39,159 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.