Which to use
“hinder” is a verb and “hinge” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,382
- “hinder” frequency rank
- #19,106
- “hinge” frequency rank
- 36488
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hinder | hinge |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To make difficult to accomplish; to act as an obstacle; to frustrate. | A jointed or flexible device that allows the pivoting of a door etc. |
Where the eye mixes hinder and hinge
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between hinder and hinge
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hinder is /ˈhɪndə/ while hinge is /ˈhɪnd͡ʒ/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36488, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hinder is recorded at frequency rank #17,382, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈhɪndə/. hinge is at rank #19,106, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈhɪnd͡ʒ/.
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 36488, this pair ranks #302,776 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hinder vs hinge
Shared letters: ehin. Private to "hinder": dr. Private to "hinge": g.
"hinder" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "hinge" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hinder" for "hinge" ever safe?
Which is more common, "hinder" or "hinge"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "hinder" and "hinge" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "hinder" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hinge" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #302,776 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hinder" and "hinge" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hing vs hinge". 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 #302,776 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.