Which to use
“holà” is an intj and “holly” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #38,841
- “holà” frequency rank
- #21,964
- “holly” frequency rank
- 60805
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | holà | holly |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Cri que les charretiers poussaient pour faire arrêter leurs chevaux. | Houx. |
Where the eye mixes holà and holly
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. holà runs 4 letters (CVCV) against holly's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: holà vs holly
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: holà is ^((h aspiré))\ɔ.la\ while holly is \ˈhɒl.i\. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60805, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
holà is recorded at frequency rank #38,841, classified as anintj, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\ɔ.la\. holly is at rank #21,964, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈhɒl.i\.
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 60805, this pair ranks #95,670 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of holà vs holly
Shared letters: hlo. Private to "holà": à. Private to "holly": y.
"holà" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "holly" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- holly ← hholly · hloly · hollyy · holyl · ohlly
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "holà" for "holly" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "holà" or "holly" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "holà" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "holly" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #95,670 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "holà" and "holly" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "holà vs Houda". 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 #95,670 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.