hicvshyeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: hic is a intj, hye is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#49,392
“hic” frequency rank
#21,825
“hye” frequency rank
71217
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hic hye
Definition An approximation to the sound of a hiccup, used e.g. to indicate drunkenness. Obsolete spelling of high.

Letter map: hic vs hye

Shared letters muted; letters that set hic and hye apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
hic
3 ch
hye

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: hic is anintj and hyeanadjective. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71217, 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/. hye is at rank #21,825, tagged as anadj.

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 71217, this pair ranks #47,563 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of hic vs hye

Shared letters: h. Private to "hic": ci. Private to "hye": ey.

"hic" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "hye" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hic" and "hye" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hic" is an intj and "hye" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "hic" or "hye"?
"hye" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,825 in our English list, against #49,392 for "hic". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list