hic vs hit, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“hic” is an intj and “hit” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#49,392
“hic” frequency rank: #421
“hit” frequency rank: 49813
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	hic	hit
Definition	An approximation to the sound of a hiccup, used e.g. to indicate drunkenness.	To strike.

Where the eye mixes hic and hit

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch

hic

3 ch

hit

Visual trap between hic and hit

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hic is /hɪk/ while hit is /hɪt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - c in “hic” becomes t in “hit”, and the parts of speech differ too (intj vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49813, 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/. hit is at rank #421, tagged as averb, pronounced /hɪt/.

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 49813, this pair ranks #180,018 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hic vs hit

Shared letters: hi. Private to "hic": c. Private to "hit": t.

"hic" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "hit" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hic" and "hit" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hic" is an intj and "hit" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

In ordinary English text, does "hic" or "hit" show up more?

"hit" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #421 in our English list, against #49,392 for "hic". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "hit" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #180,018 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"hic" and "hit" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hic vs HIIT". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #180,018 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.