Which to use
“escort” is a noun and “extort” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,132
- “escort” frequency rank
- #36,136
- “extort” frequency rank
- 43268
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | escort | extort |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A group of people or vehicles, generally armed, who go with a person or people of importance to safeguard them on a journey or mission. | To take or seize from an unwilling person by physical force, menace, duress, torture, or any undue or illegal exercise of power or ingenuity. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set escort and extort apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: escort is /ˈɛs.kɔɹt/ while extort is /ɪkˈstɔː(ɹ)t/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43268, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
escort is recorded at frequency rank #7,132, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɛs.kɔɹt/. extort is at rank #36,136, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɪkˈstɔː(ɹ)t/.
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 43268, this pair ranks #241,622 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of escort vs extort
Shared letters: eort. Private to "escort": cs. Private to "extort": x.
"escort" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC · "extort" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "escort" and "extort" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "escort" or "extort"?
Remembering escort vs extort
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “escort”; for a verb, it's “extort”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “escort” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable