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. |
Same sound, different letters: eek vs eke
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 2 letters. eek (VVC) and eke (VCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Homophone desk: eek vs eke
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
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "eek" for "eke" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "eek" or "eke" show up more?
What to do next
You've separated the homophone pair "eek" / "eke". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "eek" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "eke" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #6,935 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "eek" and "eke" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "eke vs Eri". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #6,935 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.