confessvsconveysConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#9,306
“confess” frequency rank
#23,222
“conveys” frequency rank
32528
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature confess conveys
Definition To admit to the truth, particularly in the context of sins or crimes committed. third-person singular simple present indicative of convey

Where the eye mixes confess and conveys

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
confess
7 ch
conveys

Look-alike desk: confess vs conveys

A purely visual mix-up. confess (/kənˈfɛs/) and conveys (/kənˈveɪz/) 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 32528, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

confess is recorded at frequency rank #9,306, classified as averb, pronounced /kənˈfɛs/. conveys is at rank #23,222, tagged as averb, pronounced /kənˈveɪz/.

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 32528, this pair ranks #337,029 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of confess vs conveys

Shared letters: cenos. Private to "confess": f. Private to "conveys": vy.

"confess" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "conveys" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • confesscconfess · cnofess · cofness · conefss · confes · conffess · confses · connfess
  • conveyscconveys · cnoveys · conevys · connveys · convesy · conveyss · conveyys · convveys

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "confess" for "conveys" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/kənˈfɛs/ versus /kənˈveɪz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary English text, does "confess" or "conveys" show up more?
"confess" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,306 in our English list, against #23,222 for "conveys". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "confess" and "conveys" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "confess" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "conveys" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #337,029 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "confess" and "conveys" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "conveys vs covey". 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 #337,029 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list