Which to use
“joey” and “jour” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,053
- “joey” frequency rank
- #29,330
- “jour” frequency rank
- 37383
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | joey | jour |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The immature young of a marsupial, notably a junior kangaroo, but also a young wallaby, koala, etc. | Abbreviation of journeyman, e.g. jour printer. |
Where the eye mixes joey and jour
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. joey (CVVV) and jour (CVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between joey and jour
A purely visual mix-up. joey (/ˈd͡ʒoʊ.i/) and jour (/ˈd͡ʒɝ/) 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 37383, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
joey is recorded at frequency rank #8,053, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈd͡ʒoʊ.i/. jour is at rank #29,330, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈd͡ʒɝ/.
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 37383, this pair ranks #295,035 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of joey vs jour
Shared letters: jo. Private to "joey": ey. Private to "jour": ru.
"joey" · 4 letters · shape CVVV · "jour" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "joey" for "jour" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "joey" or "jour" show up more?
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 "joey" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "jour" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #295,035 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "joey" and "jour" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "jour vs Jove". 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 #295,035 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.