Which to use
“hidden” and “hinder” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,837
- “hidden” frequency rank
- #17,382
- “hinder” frequency rank
- 20219
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hidden | hinder |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | past participle of hide | To make difficult to accomplish; to act as an obstacle; to frustrate. |
Where the eye mixes hidden and hinder
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. hidden and hinder follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: hidden vs hinder
A purely visual mix-up. hidden (/ˈhɪd(ə)n/) and hinder (/ˈhɪndə/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20219, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hidden is recorded at frequency rank #2,837, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈhɪd(ə)n/. hinder is at rank #17,382, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈhɪndə/.
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 20219, this pair ranks #432,672 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of hidden vs hinder
Shared letters: dehin. Private to "hidden": -. Private to "hinder": r.
"hidden" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "hinder" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hidden" for "hinder" ever safe?
Frequency check: "hidden" vs "hinder" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "hidden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hinder" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #432,672 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hidden" and "hinder" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hinder vs Hodder". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #432,672 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.