Which to use
“hic” is an intj and “hire” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #49,392
- “hic” frequency rank
- #3,628
- “hire” frequency rank
- 53020
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hic | hire |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An approximation to the sound of a hiccup, used e.g. to indicate drunkenness. | A person who has been hired, especially in a cohort. |
Where the eye mixes hic and hire
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hic is /hɪk/ while hire is /ˈhaɪ(.)ə/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (intj vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53020, 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/. hire is at rank #3,628, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈhaɪ(.)ə/.
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 53020, this pair ranks #152,329 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hic vs hire
Shared letters: hi. Private to "hic": c. Private to "hire": er.
"hic" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "hire" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- hire ← hhire · hier · hirre · hrie · ihre