Hi or hie?
hi is an interjection meaning “A friendly, informal, casual greeting said upon someone's arrival”; hie is a verb meaning “To hasten; to go quickly, to hurry”. Use hi as an interjection and hie as a verb (hie is also an interjection: “A call to turn a horse to the left”). They sound the same (/haɪ/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) hi is about 316 times as common as hie.
What is the difference between hi and hie?
| hi | hie | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | interjection, noun, adjective | verb, interjection |
| Meaning | A friendly, informal, casual greeting said upon someone's arrival An exclamation to call attention The word "hi" used as a greeting | To hasten; to go quickly, to hurry To hurry (oneself) A call to turn a horse to the left |
| Example | Hi, how are you? | none recorded |
| Forms | heigh | hies, hying, hieing, hied |
| Pronunciation | /haɪ/ /haːj/ | /haɪ/ |
| In writing | 100 times per million words | about once in every 3 million words |
Sources: hi and hie in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of hi and hie
hi
- 1
A friendly, informal, casual greeting said upon someone's arrival
Hi, how are you?
- 2
The word "hi" used as a greeting
I didn't even get a hi
- 3
informalInformal spelling of high, often in hyphenated terms
Get hi-quality videos here!
- 4
Abbreviation of high (“high gear or high range”)
- 5
An exclamation to call attention
- 6
Initialism of hyperspectral imaging
- 7
Expressing wonder or derision
How did he do that, hi?
hie
- 1
To hasten; to go quickly, to hurry
- 2
A call to turn a horse to the left
- 3
To hurry (oneself)
- 4
To urge (a horse) to the left with a cry of "hie"
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, hi or hie?
hi appears 100 times per million words; hie about once in every 3 million words.
hi 100 times per million wordshie about once in every 3 million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).