herovshurtWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: hero is a noun, hurt is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“hero” is a noun and “hurt” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#15,354
“hero” frequency rank
#23,362
“hurt” frequency rank
38716
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hero hurt
Definition herói machucado, ferido

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hero and hurt apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
hero
4 ch
hurt

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hero is /hɪɹoʊ/, /hiːɹoʊ/ while hurt is /hɜːt/. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38716, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hero is recorded at frequency rank #15,354, classified as anoun, pronounced /hɪɹoʊ/, /hiːɹoʊ/. hurt is at rank #23,362, tagged as anadj, pronounced /hɜːt/.

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 38716, this pair ranks #27,679 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hero vs hurt

Shared letters: hr. Private to "hero": eo. Private to "hurt": tu.

"hero" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "hurt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • heroehro · heor · herro · hhero · hreo
  • hurthhurt · hrut · hurrt · hurtt · hutr · uhrt

Frequency comparison

hero#15,354
hurt#23,362

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hero" and "hurt" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hero" is a noun and "hurt" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "hero" or "hurt"?
"hero" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,354 in our Portuguese list, against #23,362 for "hurt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering hero vs hurt

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “hero”; for an adjective, it's “hurt”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “hero” 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