Which to use
“hold” and “hope” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #655
- “hold” frequency rank
- #346
- “hope” frequency rank
- 1001
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hold | hope |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To grasp or grip. | To want (something) to happen, with a sense of expectation that it might [with that (+ clause); or (informal) with clause; or with so or (negative) not]. |
Where the eye mixes hold and hope
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. hold (/həʊld/) and hope (/həʊp/) 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 1001, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hold is recorded at frequency rank #655, classified as averb, pronounced /həʊld/. hope is at rank #346, tagged as averb, pronounced /həʊp/.
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 1001, this pair ranks #528,331 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of hold vs hope
Shared letters: ho. Private to "hold": dl. Private to "hope": ep.
"hold" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "hope" · 4 letters · shape CVCV