holevshorseWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#28,986
“hole” frequency rank
#25,002
“horse” frequency rank
53988
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hole horse
Definition Trou. Cheval (animal).

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hole and horse apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
hole
5 ch
horse

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. hole (\ˈhoʊl\) and horse (\ˈhɔɹs\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53988, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hole is recorded at frequency rank #28,986, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈhoʊl\. horse is at rank #25,002, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈhɔɹs\.

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 53988, this pair ranks #137,052 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hole vs horse

Shared letters: eho. Private to "hole": l. Private to "horse": rs.

"hole" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "horse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • holehhole · hloe · hoel · holle · ohle
  • horsehhorse · hores · horrse · horsse · hosre · hrose · ohrse

Frequency comparison

hole#28,986
horse#25,002

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hole" and "horse" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ˈhoʊl\ versus \ˈhɔɹs\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "hole" or "horse"?
"horse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,002 in our French list, against #28,986 for "hole". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering hole vs horse

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 “hole” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list