hello vs hollow, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“hello” is an intj and “hollow” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#13,097
“hello” frequency rank: #25,690
“hollow” frequency rank: 38787
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	hello	hollow
Definition	oi, olá	oco, vazio

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch

hello

6 ch

hollow

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hello is /hɛˈloʊ̯/, /həˈloʊ̯/, SAMPA: /hE"loU/, /h@"loU/ while hollow is /ˈhɑ.loʊ/. 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 (intj vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38787, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hello is recorded at frequency rank #13,097, classified as anintj, pronounced /hɛˈloʊ̯/, /həˈloʊ̯/, SAMPA: /hE"loU/, /h@"loU/. hollow is at rank #25,690, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈhɑ.loʊ/.

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 38787, this pair ranks #27,595 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hello vs hollow

Shared letters: hlo. Private to "hello": e. Private to "hollow": w.

"hello" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "hollow" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

hello ← ehllo · helo · helol · hhello · hlelo
hollow ← hhollow · hlolow · holloww · hollwo · hololw · holow · ohllow

Frequency comparison

hello#13,097

hollow#25,690

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hello" and "hollow" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hello" is an intj and "hollow" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "hello" or "hollow"?

"hello" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,097 in our Portuguese list, against #25,690 for "hollow". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering hello vs hollow

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an intj, it's “hello”; for an adjective, it's “hollow”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “hello” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable