Which to use
“hold” and “holden” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #655
- “hold” frequency rank
- #12,439
- “holden” frequency rank
- 13094
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hold | holden |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To grasp or grip. | past participle of hold |
Letter map: hold vs holden
Shared letters muted; letters that set hold and holden apart highlighted. Shared run: 4. hold runs 4 letters (CVCC) against holden's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Pair insight - hold / holden
hold and holden are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “hold” sits inside “holden”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13094, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hold is recorded at frequency rank #655, classified as averb, pronounced /həʊld/. holden is at rank #12,439, tagged as averb.
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 13094, this pair ranks #477,807 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of hold vs holden
Shared letters: dhlo. Private to "hold": -. Private to "holden": en.
"hold" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "holden" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hold" for "holden" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "hold" or "holden" show up more?
After this comparison
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "hold" and "holden".
- Full dictionary entry for "hold" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "holden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #477,807 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hold" and "holden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "holden vs Holton". 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 #477,807 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.