Which to use
“hips” and “hoss” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,761
- “hips” frequency rank
- #46,520
- “hoss” frequency rank
- 56281
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hips | hoss |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of hip | Pronunciation spelling of horse. |
Where the eye mixes hips and hoss
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. hips and hoss follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses hips with hoss
A purely visual mix-up. hips (/hɪps/) and hoss (/hɔːs/) 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 56281, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hips is recorded at frequency rank #9,761, classified as anoun, pronounced /hɪps/. hoss is at rank #46,520, tagged as anoun, pronounced /hɔːs/.
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 56281, this pair ranks #127,386 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of hips vs hoss
Shared letters: hs. Private to "hips": ip. Private to "hoss": o.
"hips" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "hoss" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "hips" and "hoss" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "hips" or "hoss"?
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 "hips" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hoss" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #127,386 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hips" and "hoss" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hoke vs hoss". 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 #127,386 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.