choleravscoolerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#19,787
“cholera” frequency rank
#7,548
“cooler” frequency rank
27335
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cholera cooler
Definition Any of several acute infectious diseases of humans and domestic animals, caused by certain strains of the Vibrio cholerae bacterium through ingestion of contaminated water or food, usually marked by severe gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea, abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, and dehydration. Anything which cools.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cholera and cooler apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
cholera
6 ch
cooler

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. cholera (/ˈkɒləɹə/) and cooler (/ˈkuː.lə(ɹ)/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27335, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cholera is recorded at frequency rank #19,787, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɒləɹə/. cooler is at rank #7,548, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkuː.lə(ɹ)/.

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 27335, this pair ranks #379,759 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cholera vs cooler

Shared letters: celor. Private to "cholera": ah. Private to "cooler": -.

"cholera" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV  ·  "cooler" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • choleraccholera · chholera · chloera · choelra · cholear · cholerra · chollera · cholrea
  • coolerccooler · coler · coloer · cooelr · coolerr · cooller · coolre · ocoler

Frequency comparison

cholera#19,787
cooler#7,548

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cholera" and "cooler" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈkɒləɹə/ versus /ˈkuː.lə(ɹ)/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cholera" or "cooler"?
"cooler" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,548 in our English list, against #19,787 for "cholera". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cholera vs cooler

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cholera” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list