Which to use
“dance” and “dancer” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,246
- “dance” frequency rank
- #7,213
- “dancer” frequency rank
- 8459
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dance | dancer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A sequence of rhythmic steps or movements usually performed to music, for pleasure or as a form of social interaction. | A person who dances, usually as a hobby, an occupation, or a profession. |
Where the eye mixes dance and dancer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between dance and dancer
A purely visual mix-up. dance (/dɑːns/) and dancer (/ˈdɑːnsə(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 extra letter(s) - “dance” sits inside “dancer”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8459, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dance is recorded at frequency rank #1,246, classified as anoun, pronounced /dɑːns/. dancer is at rank #7,213, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈdɑːnsə(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 8459, this pair ranks #502,387 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of dance vs dancer
Shared letters: acden. Private to "dance": -. Private to "dancer": r.
"dance" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "dancer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "dance" and "dancer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "dance" or "dancer"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "dance" and "dancer" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "dance" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dancer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #502,387 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dance" and "dancer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dancer vs denier". 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 #502,387 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.