Which to use
“ajar” is an adverb and “atari” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #48,584
- “ajar” frequency rank
- #29,546
- “atari” frequency rank
- 78130
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ajar | atari |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Slightly turned or opened. | A move that threatens the immediate capture of one or more stones. |
Where the eye mixes ajar and atari
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: ajar vs atari
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ajar is /əˈd͡ʒɑː/ while atari is /əˈtɑːˌɹi/. 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 (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78130, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ajar is recorded at frequency rank #48,584, classified as anadv, pronounced /əˈd͡ʒɑː/. atari is at rank #29,546, tagged as anoun, pronounced /əˈtɑːˌɹi/.
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 78130, this pair ranks #25,392 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ajar vs atari
Shared letters: ar. Private to "ajar": j. Private to "atari": it.
"ajar" · 4 letters · shape VCVC · "atari" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ajar" and "atari" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "ajar" or "atari" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "ajar" and "atari" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ajar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "atari" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #25,392 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ajar" and "atari" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ajar vs Amari". 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 #25,392 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.