Hobson's choice
/ˌhɒbs(ə)nz ˈt͡ʃɔɪs/
"hobson-s-choice" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Hobson's choice” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 15
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A situation where a person is presented with the illusion of a free choice, but in reality there is only one option available: accepting the offer or having nothing at all.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Hobson's choice |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌhɒbs(ə)nz ˈt͡ʃɔɪs/ |
| Letters | 15 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Hobson's choice” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
Hobson's choice is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌhɒbs(ə)nz ˈt͡ʃɔɪs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
Hobson's choice doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our dataset records no confusable match here, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Hobson + -’s + choice, widely claimed to have been named after Thomas Hobson (c. 1544–1631) of Cambridge, England, who rented horses and had an extensive stable, but is said to have required each customer to take the horse in the stall closest to the d… The correct English form is Hobson's choice, spelled H-O-B-S-O-N-'-S- -C-H-O-I-C-E.
Definition
- 1A situation where a person is presented with the illusion of a free choice, but in reality there is only one option available: accepting the offer or having nothing at all.
- 2A choice between several undesirable options; Sophie's choice.
- 3The voice.
Etymology
From Hobson + -’s + choice, widely claimed to have been named after Thomas Hobson (c. 1544–1631) of Cambridge, England, who rented horses and had an extensive stable, but is said to have required each customer to take the horse in the stall closest to the door, to prevent the best horses from always being chosen and becoming overused. The Oxford English Dictionary also suggests an alternative etymology based on a 1607 work, The Pleasant Conceites of Old Hobson, which refers to one William Hobson (died 1581), a haberdasher from London, who is said to have been unable to recognize his own horse, and so had the habit of waiting at stables until other people had claimed their horses as the one remaining had to be his. This story is most likely fictional as it is identical to one entitled “Of the Two Yong Men that Rode to Walsingham” in Mery Tales and Quick Answeres (1530).
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “Hobson's choice”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is H-O-B-S-O-N-'-S- -C-H-O-I-C-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌhɒbs(ə)nz ˈt͡ʃɔɪs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.