Which to use
“hot” is an adjective and “hôte” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,200
- “hot” frequency rank
- #6,098
- “hôte” frequency rank
- 12298
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hot | hôte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Intéressant. | Celui qui donne l’hospitalité par humanité, par amitié, par bienveillance. |
Where the eye mixes hot and hôte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses hot with hôte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hot is \ɔt\ while hôte is ^((h muet))\ot\. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12298, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hot is recorded at frequency rank #6,200, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɔt\. hôte is at rank #6,098, tagged as anoun, pronounced ^((h muet))\ot\.
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 12298, this pair ranks #405,825 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of hot vs hôte
Shared letters: ht. Private to "hot": o. Private to "hôte": eô.
"hot" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "hôte" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "hot" and "hôte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "hot" or "hôte"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "hot" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hôte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #405,825 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hot" and "hôte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hae vs hot". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #405,825 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.