Which to use
“deaf” and “dear” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,214
- “deaf” frequency rank
- #1,753
- “dear” frequency rank
- 8967
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | deaf | dear |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Unable (or partially able) to hear. | High in price; expensive. |
Where the eye mixes deaf and dear
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. deaf (/dɛf/) and dear (/dɪə/) 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 a single letter - f in “deaf” becomes r in “dear”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8967, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
deaf is recorded at frequency rank #7,214, classified as anadj, pronounced /dɛf/. dear is at rank #1,753, tagged as anadj, pronounced /dɪə/.
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 8967, this pair ranks #499,770 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of deaf vs dear
Shared letters: ade. Private to "deaf": f. Private to "dear": r.
"deaf" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "dear" · 4 letters · shape CVVC