hellovshollowWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: hello is a intj, hollow is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“hello” is an intj and “hollow” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#6,305
“hello” frequency rank
#33,722
“hollow” frequency rank
40027
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hello hollow
Definition Salut, bonjour. Creux.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hello and hollow apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
hello
6 ch
hollow

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hello is \(h)ɛ.lo\ while hollow is \ˈhɒl.əʊ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (intj vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40027, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hello is recorded at frequency rank #6,305, classified as anintj, pronounced \(h)ɛ.lo\. hollow is at rank #33,722, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ˈhɒl.əʊ\.

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 40027, this pair ranks #243,571 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hello vs hollow

Shared letters: hlo. Private to "hello": e. Private to "hollow": w.

"hello" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "hollow" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • helloehllo · helo · helol · hhello · hlelo
  • hollowhhollow · hlolow · holloww · hollwo · hololw · holow · ohllow

Frequency comparison

hello#6,305
hollow#33,722

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hello" and "hollow" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hello" is an intj and "hollow" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "hello" or "hollow"?
"hello" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,305 in our French list, against #33,722 for "hollow". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering hello vs hollow

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an intj, it's “hello”; for an adjective, it's “hollow”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “hello” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list