Which to use
“impair” and “impart” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #31,616
- “impair” frequency rank
- #25,792
- “impart” frequency rank
- 57408
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | impair | impart |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To weaken; to affect negatively; to have a diminishing effect on. | To give or bestow (e.g. a quality or property). |
Where the eye mixes impair and impart
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. impair (VCCVVC) and impart (VCCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses impair with impart
A purely visual mix-up. impair (/ɪmˈpɛə(ɹ)/) and impart (/ɪmˈpɑːt/) 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 57408, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
impair is recorded at frequency rank #31,616, classified as averb, pronounced /ɪmˈpɛə(ɹ)/. impart is at rank #25,792, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɪmˈpɑːt/.
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 57408, this pair ranks #119,463 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of impair vs impart
Shared letters: aimpr. Private to "impair": -. Private to "impart": t.
"impair" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVC · "impart" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "impair" for "impart" ever safe?
Frequency check: "impair" vs "impart" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "impair" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "impart" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #119,463 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "impair" and "impart" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "impair vs impala". 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 #119,463 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.