Which to use
“adept” is an adjective and “adopt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,747
- “adept” frequency rank
- #5,182
- “adopt” frequency rank
- 23929
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | adept | adopt |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Well skilled; completely versed; thoroughly proficient | To take (a child, heir, friend, citizen, etc.) by choice into a relationship. |
Where the eye mixes adept and adopt
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: adept vs adopt
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: adept is /əˈdɛpt/ while adopt is /əˈdɒpt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “adept” becomes o in “adopt”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23929, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
adept is recorded at frequency rank #18,747, classified as anadj, pronounced /əˈdɛpt/. adopt is at rank #5,182, tagged as averb, pronounced /əˈdɒpt/.
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 23929, this pair ranks #405,758 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of adept vs adopt
Shared letters: adpt. Private to "adept": e. Private to "adopt": o.
"adept" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC · "adopt" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "adept" for "adopt" ever safe?
Which is more common, "adept" or "adopt"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "adept" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "adopt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #405,758 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "adept" and "adopt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "adept vs appt". 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 #405,758 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.