casevscodeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“case” and “code” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#255
“case” frequency rank
#863
“code” frequency rank
1118
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature case code
Definition An actual event, situation, or fact. A short textual designation, often with little relation to the item it represents.

Where the eye mixes case and code

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
case
4 ch
code

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. case (/keɪs/) and code (/kəʊd/) 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 1118, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

case is recorded at frequency rank #255, classified as anoun, pronounced /keɪs/. code is at rank #863, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kəʊd/.

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 1118, this pair ranks #528,057 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of case vs code

Shared letters: ce. Private to "case": as. Private to "code": do.

"case" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "code" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • caseacse · caes · casse · ccase · csae
  • codeccode · cdoe · codde · ocde

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "case" and "code" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/keɪs/ versus /kəʊd/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "case" or "code"?
"case" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #255 in our English list, against #863 for "code". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list