Which to use
“appoint” is a verb and “appointee” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,163
- “appoint” frequency rank
- #33,514
- “appointee” frequency rank
- 44677
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | appoint | appointee |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To set, fix or determine (a time or place for something such as a meeting, or the meeting itself) by authority or agreement. | a person who is appointed |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set appoint and appointee apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
appoint and appointee form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “appoint” sits inside “appointee” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44677, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
appoint is recorded at frequency rank #11,163, classified as averb, pronounced /əˈpɔɪnt/. appointee is at rank #33,514, tagged as anoun, pronounced /əˌpɔɪnˈtiː/.
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 44677, this pair ranks #228,344 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "appoint" and "appointee" be used interchangeably?
Remembering appoint vs appointee
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “appoint”; for a noun, it's “appointee”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “appoint” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable