Which to use
“embed” is a verb and “ember” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,154
- “embed” frequency rank
- #30,019
- “ember” frequency rank
- 61173
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | embed | ember |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To lay (something) as in a bed; to lay in surrounding matter; to bed. | A piece of coal or wood glowing by heat; a hot coal. |
Where the eye mixes embed and ember
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between embed and ember
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: embed is /ɪmˈbɛd/ while ember is /ˈɛm.bə/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - d in “embed” becomes r in “ember”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61173, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
embed is recorded at frequency rank #31,154, classified as averb, pronounced /ɪmˈbɛd/. ember is at rank #30,019, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɛm.bə/.
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 61173, this pair ranks #95,742 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of embed vs ember
Shared letters: bem. Private to "embed": d. Private to "ember": r.
"embed" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "ember" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "embed" and "ember" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "embed" vs "ember" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "embed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ember" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #95,742 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "embed" and "ember" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Eben vs embed". 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 #95,742 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.