Which to use
“hic” is an intj and “him” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #49,392
- “hic” frequency rank
- #82
- “him” frequency rank
- 49474
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hic | him |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An approximation to the sound of a hiccup, used e.g. to indicate drunkenness. | A masculine pronoun; he as a grammatical object. |
Where the eye mixes hic and him
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses hic with him
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hic is /hɪk/ while him is /ˈhɪm/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - c in “hic” becomes m in “him”, and the parts of speech differ too (intj vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49474, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hic is recorded at frequency rank #49,392, classified as anintj, pronounced /hɪk/. him is at rank #82, tagged as apron, pronounced /ˈhɪm/.
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 49474, this pair ranks #183,236 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hic vs him
Shared letters: hi. Private to "hic": c. Private to "him": m.
"hic" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "him" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "hic" and "him" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "hic" or "him"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "hic" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "him" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #183,236 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hic" and "him" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hic vs HIIT". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #183,236 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.