Which to use
“hints” and “hives” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,944
- “hints” frequency rank
- #24,782
- “hives” frequency rank
- 33726
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hints | hives |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of hint | Itchy, swollen, red areas of the skin which can appear quickly in response to an allergen or due to other conditions. |
Where the eye mixes hints and hives
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between hints and hives
A purely visual mix-up. hints (/hɪnts/) and hives (/haɪvz/) 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 33726, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hints is recorded at frequency rank #8,944, classified as anoun, pronounced /hɪnts/. hives is at rank #24,782, tagged as anoun, pronounced /haɪvz/.
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 33726, this pair ranks #326,926 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hints vs hives
Shared letters: his. Private to "hints": nt. Private to "hives": ev.
"hints" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "hives" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "hints" and "hives" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "hints" vs "hives" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "hints" and "hives" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "hints" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hives" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #326,926 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hints" and "hives" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hideo vs hives". 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 #326,926 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.