Which to use
“hurdle” is a noun and “hurl” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #16,938
- “hurdle” frequency rank
- #32,438
- “hurl” frequency rank
- 49376
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hurdle | hurl |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An artificial barrier, variously constructed, over which athletes or horses jump in a race. | To throw (something) with force. |
Where the eye mixes hurdle and hurl
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses hurdle with hurl
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hurdle is /ˈhɜːdl̩/ while hurl is /hɜːl/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49376, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hurdle is recorded at frequency rank #16,938, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈhɜːdl̩/. hurl is at rank #32,438, tagged as averb, pronounced /hɜːl/.
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 49376, this pair ranks #184,225 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hurdle vs hurl
Shared letters: hlru. Private to "hurdle": de. Private to "hurl": -.
"hurdle" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "hurl" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "hurdle" and "hurl" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "hurdle" or "hurl" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "hurdle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hurl" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #184,225 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hurdle" and "hurl" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "HRW vs hurl". 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 #184,225 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.