Which to use
“head” and “herb” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,215
- “head” frequency rank
- #35,983
- “herb” frequency rank
- 54198
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | head | herb |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Relatif à la tête. | Astringent, âcre, amer. |
Where the eye mixes head and herb
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: head vs herb
A purely visual mix-up. head (\hɛd\) and herb (\hɛrp\) 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 54198, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
head is recorded at frequency rank #18,215, classified as anadj, pronounced \hɛd\. herb is at rank #35,983, tagged as anadj, pronounced \hɛrp\.
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 54198, this pair ranks #135,586 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of head vs herb
Shared letters: eh. Private to "head": ad. Private to "herb": br.
"head" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "herb" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "head" and "herb" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "head" vs "herb" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "head" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "herb" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #135,586 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "head" and "herb" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "herb vs heurt". 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 #135,586 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.