interceptvsintermentConfusable pair

Quick tell: intercept is a verb, interment is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“intercept” is a verb and “interment” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#13,542
“intercept” frequency rank
#39,369
“interment” frequency rank
52911
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature intercept interment
Definition To stop, deflect or divert (something in progress or motion). The act of burying a dead body; burial.

Where the eye mixes intercept and interment

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

9 ch
intercept
9 ch
interment

Look-alike desk: intercept vs interment

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: intercept is /ɪntəˈsɛpt/ while interment is /ɪnˈtɝmənt/. 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 52911, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

intercept is recorded at frequency rank #13,542, classified as averb, pronounced /ɪntəˈsɛpt/. interment is at rank #39,369, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɪnˈtɝmənt/.

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 52911, this pair ranks #153,170 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of intercept vs interment

Shared letters: einrt. Private to "intercept": cp. Private to "interment": m.

"intercept" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCC  ·  "interment" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • interceptinetrcept · inntercept · intecrept · interccept · interceppt · interceptt · intercetp · intercpet
  • intermentinetrment · innterment · intemrent · interemnt · intermennt · intermentt · intermetn · intermment

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "intercept" for "interment" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "intercept" is a verb and "interment" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "intercept" vs "interment" - which ranks higher?
"intercept" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,542 in our English list, against #39,369 for "interment". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "intercept" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "interment" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #153,170 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "intercept" and "interment" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "interment vs internment". 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 #153,170 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