Which to use
“effect” and “elect” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,015
- “effect” frequency rank
- #6,782
- “elect” frequency rank
- 7797
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | effect | elect |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The result or outcome of a cause. | One chosen or set apart. |
Where the eye mixes effect and elect
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. effect (/ɪˈfɛkt/) and elect (/ɪˈlɛkt/) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7797, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
effect is recorded at frequency rank #1,015, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɪˈfɛkt/. elect is at rank #6,782, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɪˈlɛkt/.
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 7797, this pair ranks #505,539 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of effect vs elect
Shared letters: cet. Private to "effect": f. Private to "elect": l.
"effect" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC · "elect" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC