eekvsekeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: eek is a intj, eke is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“eek” is an intj and “eke” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#42,622
“eek” frequency rank
#45,352
“eke” frequency rank
87974
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature eek eke
Definition Representing a scream or shriek (especially in comic strips and books). An addition.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set eek and eke apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
eek
3 ch
eke

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: eek and eke carry the same recorded pronunciation, /iːk/. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anintj, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ only by swapping two adjacent letters (ek ↔ ke) - a transposition the eye reads straight past. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 87974, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

eek is recorded at frequency rank #42,622, classified as anintj, pronounced /iːk/. eke is at rank #45,352, tagged as anoun, pronounced /iːk/.

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 87974, this pair ranks #6,935 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of eek vs eke

Shared letters: ek. Private to "eek": -. Private to "eke": -.

"eek" · 3 letters · shape VVC  ·  "eke" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequency comparison

eek#42,622
eke#45,352

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "eek" and "eke" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "eek" is an intj and "eke" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "eek" or "eke"?
"eek" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #42,622 in our English list, against #45,352 for "eke". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering eek vs eke

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an intj, it's “eek”; for a noun, it's “eke”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “eek” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list