Which to use
“hinge” and “hire” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,106
- “hinge” frequency rank
- #3,628
- “hire” frequency rank
- 22734
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hinge | hire |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A jointed or flexible device that allows the pivoting of a door etc. | A person who has been hired, especially in a cohort. |
Where the eye mixes hinge and hire
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses hinge with hire
A purely visual mix-up. hinge (/ˈhɪnd͡ʒ/) and hire (/ˈhaɪ(.)ə/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22734, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hinge is recorded at frequency rank #19,106, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈhɪnd͡ʒ/. hire is at rank #3,628, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈhaɪ(.)ə/.
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 22734, this pair ranks #414,404 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of hinge vs hire
Shared letters: ehi. Private to "hinge": gn. Private to "hire": r.
"hinge" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "hire" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hinge" for "hire" ever safe?
Frequency check: "hinge" vs "hire" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "hinge" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hire" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #414,404 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hinge" and "hire" 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 #414,404 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.