Which to use
“hay” and “hoax” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,038
- “hay” frequency rank
- #47,378
- “hoax” frequency rank
- 68416
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hay | hoax |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Foin. | Canular, bobard, intox, en particulier diffusé sur Internet. |
Where the eye mixes hay and hoax
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. hay runs 3 letters (CVV) against hoax's 4 (CVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses hay with hoax
A purely visual mix-up. hay (\heɪ\) and hoax (^((h aspiré))\oks\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68416, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hay is recorded at frequency rank #21,038, classified as anoun, pronounced \heɪ\. hoax is at rank #47,378, tagged as anoun, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\oks\.
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 68416, this pair ranks #59,291 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of hay vs hoax
Shared letters: ah. Private to "hay": y. Private to "hoax": ox.
"hay" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "hoax" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- hoax ← haox · hhoax · hoaxx · hoxa · ohax
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "hay" and "hoax" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "hay" or "hoax"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "hay" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hoax" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #59,291 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hay" and "hoax" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hae vs hoax". 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 #59,291 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.