hostelvshostieWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#43,976
“hostel” frequency rank
#28,989
“hostie” frequency rank
72965
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hostel hostie
Definition Auberge de jeunesse, pension dans les pays anglosaxons. Pain très mince et sans levain (azyme) que le prêtre offre et consacre à la messe.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hostel and hostie apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
hostel
6 ch
hostie

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. hostel (\ɔs.tel\) and hostie (^((h muet))\ɔs.ti\) 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 72965, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hostel is recorded at frequency rank #43,976, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɔs.tel\. hostie is at rank #28,989, tagged as anoun, pronounced ^((h muet))\ɔs.ti\.

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 72965, this pair ranks #42,175 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of hostel vs hostie

Shared letters: ehost. Private to "hostel": l. Private to "hostie": i.

"hostel" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "hostie" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hostelhhostel · hosetl · hosstel · hostell · hostle · hosttel · hotsel · hsotel
  • hostiehhostie · hosite · hosstie · hostei · hosttie · hotsie · hsotie · ohstie

Frequency comparison

hostel#43,976
hostie#28,989

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hostel" and "hostie" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɔs.tel\ versus ^((h muet))\ɔs.ti\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "hostel" or "hostie"?
"hostie" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,989 in our French list, against #43,976 for "hostel". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering hostel vs hostie

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 “hostel” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list