Which to use
“hic” and “hoc” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,382
- “hic” frequency rank
- #18,770
- “hoc” frequency rank
- 35152
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hic | hoc |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nœud ou principale difficulté d’une affaire, problème. | Sorte de jeu de carte introduit, parait-il, en France par Mazarin. |
Where the eye mixes hic and hoc
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between hic and hoc
A purely visual mix-up. hic (^((h aspiré))\ik\) and hoc (^((h aspiré))\ɔk\) 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 a single letter - i in “hic” becomes o in “hoc”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35152, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hic is recorded at frequency rank #16,382, classified as anoun, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\ik\. hoc is at rank #18,770, tagged as anoun, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\ɔk\.
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 35152, this pair ranks #278,775 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hic vs hoc
Shared letters: ch. Private to "hic": i. Private to "hoc": o.
"hic" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "hoc" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "hic" and "hoc" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "hic" or "hoc" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "hic" and "hoc" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "hic" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hoc" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #278,775 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hic" and "hoc" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hae vs hoc". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #278,775 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.