Which to use
“hew” and “hod” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,513
- “hew” frequency rank
- #49,395
- “hod” frequency rank
- 95908
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hew | hod |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To chop away at; to whittle down; to mow down. | To bob up and down on horseback, as an inexperienced rider may do; to jog. |
Where the eye mixes hew and hod
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. hew and hod follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between hew and hod
A purely visual mix-up. hew (/hjuː/) and hod (/hɒd/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 95908, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hew is recorded at frequency rank #46,513, classified as averb, pronounced /hjuː/. 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 95908, this pair ranks #782 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of hew vs hod
Shared letters: h. Private to "hew": ew. Private to "hod": do.
"hew" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "hod" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hew" for "hod" ever safe?
Frequency check: "hew" vs "hod" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "hew" and "hod" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "hew" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hod" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #782 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hew" and "hod" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hod vs hoke". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #782 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.