hair and herr are homophones: they are pronounced identically and spelled differently, which is why they are so often swapped. hair means “a covering for the body (or parts of it) consisting of a dense growth of threadlike structures (as on the human head); helps to prevent heat loss”. herr means “a German man; used before the name as a title equivalent to Mr in English”. hair is the more common of the two in everyday English.
/ˈhɛɹ/
1.n.a covering for the body (or parts of it) consisting of a dense growth of threadlike structures (as on the human head); helps to prevent heat loss
“he combed his hair”
2.n.a very small distance or space
“they escaped by a hair's-breadth”
3.n.filamentous hairlike growth on a plant
“peach fuzz”
/ˈhɛɹ/
| hair | herr | |
|---|---|---|
| Pronunciation | /ˈhɛɹ/ | /ˈhɛɹ/ |
| Said | her | her |
| Syllables | 1 | 1 |
| Letters | 4 | 4 |
| Parts of speech | noun | noun |
| Senses | 6 | 2 |
| How common | Core | Common |
| Synonyms | none recorded | none recorded |
Full entry for hair · Full entry for herr · More comparisons
1.n.a German man; used before the name as a title equivalent to Mr in English
2.n.a German courtesy title or form of address for a man