Which to use
“head” and “hold” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,215
- “head” frequency rank
- #16,383
- “hold” frequency rank
- 34598
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | head | hold |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Relatif à la tête. | Gracieux. |
Where the eye mixes head and hold
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between head and hold
A purely visual mix-up. head (\hɛd\) and hold (\hɔlt\) 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 34598, 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\. hold is at rank #16,383, tagged as anadj, pronounced \hɔlt\.
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 34598, this pair ranks #282,708 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of head vs hold
Shared letters: dh. Private to "head": ae. Private to "hold": lo.
"head" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "hold" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "head" for "hold" ever safe?
Which is more common, "head" or "hold"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "head" and "hold" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "head" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hold" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #282,708 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "head" and "hold" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hae vs head". 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 #282,708 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.