Which to use
“Ballast” is a noun and “ballet” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #25,455
- “Ballast” frequency rank
- #44,469
- “ballet” frequency rank
- 69924
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Ballast | ballet |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Stoff oder Bauteil, das für seine Größe vergleichsweise schwer ist und zur Stabilisierung des Objektes, auf welchem es geladen ist (zum Beispiel auf Schiffen, Ballonen, U-Booten und anderen Tauchfahrzeugen) dient | 2. Person Plural Konjunktiv I Präsens Aktiv des Verbs ballen |
Where the eye mixes Ballast and ballet
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Ballast runs 7 letters (CVCCVCC) against ballet's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Ballast with ballet
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Ballast is [ˈbalast] while ballet is [ˈbalət]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69924, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Ballast is recorded at frequency rank #25,455, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈbalast]. ballet is at rank #44,469, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbalət].
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 69924, this pair ranks #461,822 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of Ballast vs ballet
Shared letters: ablt. Private to "Ballast": s. Private to "ballet": e.
"Ballast" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "ballet" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Ballast" and "ballet" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "Ballast" or "ballet"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Ballast" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ballet" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #461,822 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Ballast" and "ballet" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ballet vs barley". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #461,822 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.