emeryvsentryWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“emery” and “entry” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#19,583
“emery” frequency rank
#2,152
“entry” frequency rank
21735
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature emery entry
Definition An impure type of corundum, often used for sanding or polishing. The act of entering.

Where the eye mixes emery and entry

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
emery
5 ch
entry

Why the eye confuses emery with entry

A purely visual mix-up. emery (/ˈɛməɹi/) and entry (/ˈɛntɹi/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21735, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

emery is recorded at frequency rank #19,583, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɛməɹi/. entry is at rank #2,152, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɛntɹi/.

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 21735, this pair ranks #421,746 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of emery vs entry

Shared letters: ery. Private to "emery": m. Private to "entry": nt.

"emery" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "entry" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • emeryeemry · emerry · emeryy · emeyr · emmery · emrey · meery
  • entryenntry · enrty · entrry · entryy · enttry · entyr · etnry · netry

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "emery" and "entry" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈɛməɹi/ versus /ˈɛntɹi/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "emery" vs "entry" - which ranks higher?
"entry" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,152 in our English list, against #19,583 for "emery". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "emery" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "entry" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #421,746 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "emery" and "entry" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "elegy vs emery". 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 #421,746 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list