Which to use
“holy” is an adjective and “hour” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #28,194
- “holy” frequency rank
- #27,094
- “hour” frequency rank
- 55288
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | holy | hour |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Saint, sainte. | Espèce de hangar ou d’atelier destiné à travailler le bois pour le sabotage, etc. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set holy and hour apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: holy is \ˈhoʊ.li\ while hour is ^((h aspiré))\uʁ\. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55288, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
holy is recorded at frequency rank #28,194, classified as anadj, pronounced \ˈhoʊ.li\. hour is at rank #27,094, tagged as anoun, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\uʁ\.
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 55288, this pair ranks #128,400 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of holy vs hour
Shared letters: ho. Private to "holy": ly. Private to "hour": ru.
"holy" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "hour" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "holy" and "hour" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "holy" or "hour"?
Remembering holy vs hour
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “holy”; for a noun, it's “hour”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “holy” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable