Which to use
“arrest” and “artist” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,713
- “arrest” frequency rank
- #1,656
- “artist” frequency rank
- 4369
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | arrest | artist |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A check; a stop; an act or instance of arresting something. | A person who creates art. |
Where the eye mixes arrest and artist
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: arrest vs artist
A purely visual mix-up. arrest (/əˈɹɛst/) and artist (/ˈɑːtɪst/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4369, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
arrest is recorded at frequency rank #2,713, classified as anoun, pronounced /əˈɹɛst/. artist is at rank #1,656, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɑːtɪst/.
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 4369, this pair ranks #519,155 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of arrest vs artist
Shared letters: arst. Private to "arrest": e. Private to "artist": i.
"arrest" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC · "artist" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "arrest" for "artist" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "arrest" or "artist" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "arrest" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "artist" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #519,155 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "arrest" and "artist" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "arras vs arrest". 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 #519,155 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.