Which to use
“hoax” and “hook” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #47,378
- “hoax” frequency rank
- #31,062
- “hook” frequency rank
- 78440
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hoax | hook |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Canular, bobard, intox, en particulier diffusé sur Internet. | Effet inverse du slice. |
Where the eye mixes hoax and hook
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. hoax and hook follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: hoax vs hook
A purely visual mix-up. hoax (^((h aspiré))\oks\) and hook (\uk\) 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 78440, 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\. hook is at rank #31,062, tagged as anoun, pronounced \uk\.
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 78440, this pair ranks #25,749 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of hoax vs hook
Shared letters: ho. Private to "hoax": ax. Private to "hook": k.
"hoax" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "hook" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "hoax" and "hook" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "hoax" vs "hook" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "hoax" and "hook" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "hoax" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hook" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #25,749 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hoax" and "hook" 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 #25,749 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.