Which to use
“hoses” and “hostel” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,312
- “hoses” frequency rank
- #16,493
- “hostel” frequency rank
- 45805
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hoses | hostel |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of hose | A commercial overnight lodging place, with dormitory accommodation and shared facilities, especially a youth hostel. |
Where the eye mixes hoses and hostel
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses hoses with hostel
A purely visual mix-up. hoses (/ˈhəʊzɪz/) and hostel (/ˈhɑstəl/) 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 45805, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hoses is recorded at frequency rank #29,312, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈhəʊzɪz/. hostel is at rank #16,493, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈhɑstəl/.
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 45805, this pair ranks #217,751 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hoses vs hostel
Shared letters: ehos. Private to "hoses": -. Private to "hostel": lt.
"hoses" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "hostel" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "hoses" and "hostel" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "hoses" or "hostel"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "hoses" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hostel" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #217,751 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hoses" and "hostel" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hoke vs hoses". 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 #217,751 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.