holder vs hole, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“holder” and “hole” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#44,493
“holder” frequency rank: #28,986
“hole” frequency rank: 73479
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	holder	hole
Definition	Détenteur (dans le domaine financier, en particulier).	Trou.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch

holder

4 ch

hole

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. holder (\ɔl.dœʁ\) and hole (\ˈhoʊl\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73479, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

holder is recorded at frequency rank #44,493, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɔl.dœʁ\. hole is at rank #28,986, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈhoʊl\.

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 73479, this pair ranks #40,340 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of holder vs hole

Shared letters: ehlo. Private to "holder": dr. Private to "hole": -.

"holder" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "hole" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

holder ← hholder · hloder · hodler · holdder · holderr · holdre · holedr · hollder
hole ← hhole · hloe · hoel · holle · ohle

Frequency comparison

holder#44,493

hole#28,986

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "holder" and "hole" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (\ɔl.dœʁ\ versus \ˈhoʊl\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "holder" or "hole"?

"hole" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,986 in our French list, against #44,493 for "holder". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering holder vs hole

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “holder” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable