Which to use
“hug” is a noun and “hush” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,147
- “hug” frequency rank
- #15,629
- “hush” frequency rank
- 21776
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hug | hush |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A close embrace, especially when charged with an emotion such as affection, joy, relief, lust, anger, aggression, compassion, and the like, as opposed to being characterized by formality, equivocation or ambivalence (a half-embrace or "little hug"). | To become quiet. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hug and hush apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
hug and hush form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21776, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hug is recorded at frequency rank #6,147, classified as anoun, pronounced /hʌɡ/. hush is at rank #15,629, tagged as averb, pronounced /hʌʃ/.
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 21776, this pair ranks #421,431 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "hug" and "hush" be used interchangeably?
Remembering hug vs hush
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “hug”; for a verb, it's “hush”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “hug” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable