Which to use
“hash” and “hess” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #49,122
- “hash” frequency rank
- #28,193
- “hess” frequency rank
- 77315
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hash | hess |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Haschich. | crise, misère, galère. |
Where the eye mixes hash and hess
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses hash with hess
A purely visual mix-up. hash (^((h aspiré))\aʃ\) and hess (\hɛs\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77315, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hash is recorded at frequency rank #49,122, classified as anoun, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\aʃ\. hess is at rank #28,193, tagged as anoun, pronounced \hɛs\.
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 77315, this pair ranks #28,743 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of hash vs hess
Shared letters: hs. Private to "hash": a. Private to "hess": e.
"hash" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "hess" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "hash" and "hess" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "hash" or "hess" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "hash" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hess" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #28,743 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hash" and "hess" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hae vs hash". 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 #28,743 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.