Which to use
“incur” is a verb and “input” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,620
- “incur” frequency rank
- #3,953
- “input” frequency rank
- 23573
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | incur | input |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To bring upon oneself or expose oneself to, especially something inconvenient, harmful, or onerous; to become liable or subject to. | The act or process of putting in; infusion. |
Where the eye mixes incur and input
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: incur vs input
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: incur is /ɪnˈkɜː/ while input is /ˈɪnpʊt/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23573, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
incur is recorded at frequency rank #19,620, classified as averb, pronounced /ɪnˈkɜː/. input is at rank #3,953, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɪnpʊt/.
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 23573, this pair ranks #408,305 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of incur vs input
Shared letters: inu. Private to "incur": cr. Private to "input": pt.
"incur" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "input" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "incur" for "input" ever safe?
Frequency check: "incur" vs "input" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "incur" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "input" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #408,305 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "incur" and "input" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "incur vs Inoue". 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 #408,305 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.