Which to use
“hurled” is a verb and “hurley” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #26,121
- “hurled” frequency rank
- #19,108
- “hurley” frequency rank
- 45229
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hurled | hurley |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of hurl | A stick used in the game of hurling. |
Letter map: hurled vs hurley
Shared letters muted; letters that set hurled and hurley apart highlighted. Shared run: 5. hurled (CVCCVC) and hurley (CVCCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Role in the sentence - hurled and hurley
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: hurled is averb and hurleyanoun. On the page they differ by a single letter - d in “hurled” becomes y in “hurley”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45229, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hurled is recorded at frequency rank #26,121, classified as averb, pronounced /hɜːld/. hurley is at rank #19,108, tagged as anoun.
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 45229, this pair ranks #223,201 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hurled vs hurley
Shared letters: ehlru. Private to "hurled": d. Private to "hurley": y.
"hurled" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "hurley" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "hurled" and "hurley" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "hurled" or "hurley" show up more?
After this comparison
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "hurled" and "hurley".
- Full dictionary entry for "hurled" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hurley" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #223,201 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hurled" and "hurley" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hued vs hurled". 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 #223,201 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.