Which to use
“caprice” and “captive” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,419
- “caprice” frequency rank
- #11,177
- “captive” frequency rank
- 45596
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | caprice | captive |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An impulsive, seemingly unmotivated action, change of mind, or notion. | One who has been captured or is otherwise confined. |
Where the eye mixes caprice and captive
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses caprice with captive
A purely visual mix-up. caprice (/kəˈpɹiːs/) and captive (/ˈkæptɪv/) 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 45596, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
caprice is recorded at frequency rank #34,419, classified as anoun, pronounced /kəˈpɹiːs/. captive is at rank #11,177, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkæptɪv/.
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 45596, this pair ranks #219,758 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of caprice vs captive
Shared letters: aceip. Private to "caprice": r. Private to "captive": tv.
"caprice" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "captive" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "caprice" for "captive" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "caprice" or "captive" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "caprice" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "captive" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #219,758 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "caprice" and "captive" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caprice vs Clarice". 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 #219,758 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.