English homophones
discreet/discrete
"discrete" (#13,700 written frequency) beats "discreet" (#16,453) in this 2-word /dɪˈskɹiːt/ cluster. Size rank #133 of 1,007 English groups.
Data vintage
Frequency splits the cluster
These 2 spellings keep the same /dɪˈskɹiːt/ reading, but written frequency splits them hard: "discrete" leads at #13,700, with "discreet" trailing at #16,453.
Spelling pairs in this cluster
- Shared stem "discre" then splits - "discreet" (8 letters) vs "discrete" (8).
Orthographic DNA of this cluster
Shared letters across discreet, discrete: cdeirst. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.
discreet
8 letters · 3 vowels · shape CVCCCVVC
Inventory cdeirst · no private letters vs siblings
discrete
8 letters · 3 vowels · shape CVCCCVCV
Inventory cdeirst · no private letters vs siblings
Pick the spelling from the meaning
- Write "discreet" when you mean: Respectful of privacy or secrecy; exercising caution in order to avoid causing embarrassment; quiet; diplomatic.
- Write "discrete" when you mean: Separate; distinct; individual; non-continuous.
Known mistypes of these spellings
Edit-distance variants recorded against this cluster: useful when a search or OCR feed lands on the wrong form.
Each spelling
Nearby English homophone groups
What to do next
You've reviewed the 2-spelling cluster (discreet, discrete). Here's where to go from here.
- "discrete" is the most frequent headword in this 2-spelling cluster (rank #13,700 in English). Full entry
- Among English homophone groups, a cluster of 2 spellings ranks #133 by size (1,007 groups in this vintage). Corpus statistics
- Explore a nearby 2-spelling cluster: damn · dam. Nearby cluster
- Each spelling in "discreet, discrete" has its own headword page with definition, IPA, and misspelling variants. First entry
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.