Which to use
“hic” is an intj and “hob” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #49,392
- “hic” frequency rank
- #38,889
- “hob” frequency rank
- 88281
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hic | hob |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An approximation to the sound of a hiccup, used e.g. to indicate drunkenness. | A kind of cutting tool, used to cut the teeth of a gear. |
Where the eye mixes hic and hob
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. hic and hob follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between hic and hob
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hic is /hɪk/ while hob is /hɑb/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (intj vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 88281, 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/. hob is at rank #38,889, tagged as anoun, pronounced /hɑb/.
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 88281, this pair ranks #6,550 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of hic vs hob
Shared letters: h. Private to "hic": ci. Private to "hob": bo.
"hic" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "hob" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "hic" and "hob" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "hic" or "hob"?
What to do next
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 "hob" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #6,550 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hic" and "hob" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hic vs HIIT". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #6,550 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.