Which to use
“hurdles” is a noun and “hurled” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,138
- “hurdles” frequency rank
- #26,121
- “hurled” frequency rank
- 40259
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hurdles | hurled |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A sport where athletes or animals run along a track obstructed by regularly placed hurdles that must be leapt over. | simple past and past participle of hurl |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hurdles and hurled apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: hurdles is anoun and hurledaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40259, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hurdles is recorded at frequency rank #14,138, classified as anoun. hurled is at rank #26,121, tagged as averb, pronounced /hɜːld/.
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 40259, this pair ranks #269,182 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hurdles vs hurled
Shared letters: dehlru. Private to "hurdles": s. Private to "hurled": -.
"hurdles" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC · "hurled" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "hurdles" and "hurled" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "hurdles" or "hurled"?
Remembering hurdles vs hurled
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “hurdles”; for a verb, it's “hurled”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “hurdles” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable