Which to use
“check” and “cheque” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #487
- “check” frequency rank
- #15,124
- “cheque” frequency rank
- 15611
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | check | cheque |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An inspection or examination. | A written order directing a bank to pay money to a person or entity. |
Same sound, different letters: check vs cheque
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 3 letters.
Same sound, different spelling - check / cheque
This is the hard kind. check and cheque are pronounced identically (/t͡ʃɛk/) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15611, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
check is recorded at frequency rank #487, classified as anoun, pronounced /t͡ʃɛk/. cheque is at rank #15,124, tagged as anoun, pronounced /t͡ʃɛk/.
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 15611, this pair ranks #462,901 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of check vs cheque
Shared letters: ceh. Private to "check": k. Private to "cheque": qu.
"check" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "cheque" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "check" for "cheque" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "check" or "cheque" show up more?
After this comparison
"check" and "cheque" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "check" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cheque" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #462,901 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "check" and "cheque" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cheque vs cinque". 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 #462,901 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.