Which to use
“host” and “house” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,758
- “host” frequency rank
- #186
- “house” frequency rank
- 1944
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | host | house |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | One which receives or entertains a guest, socially, commercially, or officially. | A structure built or serving as an abode of human beings. |
Where the eye mixes host and house
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. host (/həʊst/) and house (/haʊs/) 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 1944, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
host is recorded at frequency rank #1,758, classified as anoun, pronounced /həʊst/. house is at rank #186, tagged as anoun, pronounced /haʊs/.
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 1944, this pair ranks #526,242 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of host vs house
Shared letters: hos. Private to "host": t. Private to "house": eu.
"host" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "house" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV