Which to use
“hoax” is a noun and “holt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #47,378
- “hoax” frequency rank
- #25,350
- “holt” frequency rank
- 72728
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hoax | holt |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Canular, bobard, intox, en particulier diffusé sur Internet. | Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’impératif à la forme active de holen. |
Where the eye mixes hoax and holt
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. hoax (CVVC) and holt (CVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between hoax and holt
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hoax is ^((h aspiré))\oks\ while holt is \hoːlt\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72728, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hoax is recorded at frequency rank #47,378, classified as anoun, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\oks\. holt is at rank #25,350, tagged as averb, pronounced \hoːlt\.
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 72728, this pair ranks #42,987 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of hoax vs holt
Shared letters: ho. Private to "hoax": ax. Private to "holt": lt.
"hoax" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "holt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hoax" for "holt" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "hoax" or "holt" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "hoax" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "holt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #42,987 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hoax" and "holt" 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 #42,987 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.