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'Hew' means to cut or chop with a heavy tool; 'hue' is the shade or tone of a colour.
Side-by-side comparison
"Hew" is the verb to cut or chop with an axe or heavy tool. Also metaphorically: to shape something with effort. "Hew to a line" = stick strictly to a course.
Woodcutters hewed timber from the forest to build the settlement's first houses.
The sculptor hewed the figure from a single block of white marble.
She chose to hew to the original plan rather than adopt the last-minute changes.
"Hue" is the specific tone or tint of a color: what distinguishes it from other colors. In graphic design it is one of the three color attributes (hue, saturation, brightness).
The autumn leaves turned every hue from gold to deep crimson.
The designer selected a rich teal hue for the brand's primary colour.
People of every hue and background gathered for the celebration.
Common mistake
- •"A vibrant hew of blue" when meaning a colour shade is wrong: the shade of colour is "hue".
- •"Hew" is the verb for cutting or chopping wood.
Trick to remember it
- •"Hew" has W like "woodwork" and "axe-whack": the action of cutting.
- •"Hue" rhymes with "blue", "true", "new": colour associations.
Quick rule
- •Is it the verb to cut or chop? "Hew".
- •Is it the shade or tone of colour? "Hue".
Did you know?
In digital design, the HSB/HSV color model uses "Hue" as the angle (0-360°) around a color wheel: 0 is red, 120 is green, 240 is blue. "Hue and cry" (public outcry) has a fascinating origin: the "hue" in that phrase comes from Old French "hu" (a shout of alarm), not from the color "hue" at all. Two identical-looking words from completely different sources. "Hew" has an irregular past participle: "hewn": "rough-hewn stone" and "hand-hewn timber" are still common in architecture and literature.
Practise what you learned
Exercise 1 · Pick the right one
The sunset was painted in beautiful _____ s of orange, pink, and purple.
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
The woodcutter _____ d the tree trunk into smaller pieces.
Exercise 3 · Form the word
Related word pairs
One means to receive or agree to something, the other means to exclude or not include.
'Advice' is the guidance you receive (noun); 'advise' is the act of giving that guidance (verb).
'Affect' is the verb meaning to influence something; 'effect' is the noun meaning result or consequence.
'Aisle' is the walkway between rows of seats or shelves; 'isle' is a small island.
Bryan López
Founder of SpeakUP Academy