Which to use
“courier” and “courtiers” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,526
- “courier” frequency rank
- #39,759
- “courtiers” frequency rank
- 51285
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | courier | courtiers |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A person who delivers messages. | plural of courtier |
Where the eye mixes courier and courtiers
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. courier runs 7 letters (CVVCVVC) against courtiers's 9 (CVVCCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: courier vs courtiers
A purely visual mix-up. courier (/ˈkʊ.ɹi.ə/) and courtiers (/ˈkɔɹtiɚz/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51285, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
courier is recorded at frequency rank #11,526, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkʊ.ɹi.ə/. courtiers is at rank #39,759, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɔɹtiɚz/.
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 51285, this pair ranks #166,784 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of courier vs courtiers
Shared letters: ceioru. Private to "courier": -. Private to "courtiers": st.
"courier" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVVC · "courtiers" · 9 letters · shape CVVCCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "courier" and "courtiers" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "courier" or "courtiers"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "courier" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "courtiers" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #166,784 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "courier" and "courtiers" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "courtier vs courtiers". 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 #166,784 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.