Which to use
“hostage” is a noun and “hostile” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,301
- “hostage” frequency rank
- #6,365
- “hostile” frequency rank
- 14666
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hostage | hostile |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A person given as a pledge or security for the performance of the conditions of a treaty or similar agreement, such as to ensure the status of a vassal. | Not friendly; appropriate to an enemy; showing the disposition of an enemy; showing ill will and malevolence or a desire to thwart and injure. |
Where the eye mixes hostage and hostile
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: hostage vs hostile
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hostage is /ˈhɒs.tɪd͡ʒ/ while hostile is /ˈhɒstaɪl/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14666, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hostage is recorded at frequency rank #8,301, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈhɒs.tɪd͡ʒ/. hostile is at rank #6,365, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈhɒstaɪl/.
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 14666, this pair ranks #468,683 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of hostage vs hostile
Shared letters: ehost. Private to "hostage": ag. Private to "hostile": il.
"hostage" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "hostile" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "hostage" and "hostile" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "hostage" or "hostile" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "hostage" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hostile" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #468,683 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hostage" and "hostile" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hostile vs hottie". 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 #468,683 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.