Which to use
“Hungary” is a name and “hungry” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,157
- “Hungary” frequency rank
- #3,307
- “hungry” frequency rank
- 11464
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Hungary | hungry |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A country in Central Europe. Capital and largest city: Budapest. | Affected by hunger; having the physical need for food. |
Where the eye mixes Hungary and hungry
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Hungary with hungry
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Hungary is /ˈhʌŋɡ(ə)ɹi/ while hungry is /ˈhʌŋ.ɡɹi/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11464, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Hungary is recorded at frequency rank #8,157, classified as aname, pronounced /ˈhʌŋɡ(ə)ɹi/. hungry is at rank #3,307, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈhʌŋ.ɡɹi/.
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 11464, this pair ranks #486,895 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Hungary vs hungry
Shared letters: ghnruy. Private to "Hungary": a. Private to "hungry": -.
"Hungary" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "hungry" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Hungary" and "hungry" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "Hungary" or "hungry" 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 "Hungary" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hungry" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #486,895 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Hungary" and "hungry" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hungry vs hunky". 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 #486,895 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.