Which to use
“broke” is a verb and “broom” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,477
- “broke” frequency rank
- #16,655
- “broom” frequency rank
- 18132
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | broke | broom |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past of break | A domestic utensil with fibers bound together at the end of a long handle, used for sweeping. |
Where the eye mixes broke and broom
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: broke vs broom
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: broke is /bɹəʊk/ while broom is /bɹuːm/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18132, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
broke is recorded at frequency rank #1,477, classified as averb, pronounced /bɹəʊk/. broom is at rank #16,655, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bɹuːm/.
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 18132, this pair ranks #446,909 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of broke vs broom
Shared letters: bor. Private to "broke": ek. Private to "broom": m.
"broke" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "broom" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "broke" for "broom" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "broke" or "broom" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "broke" and "broom" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "broke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "broom" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #446,909 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "broke" and "broom" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bream vs broom". 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 #446,909 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.