judovsjunkWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“judo” and “junk” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#20,975
“judo” frequency rank
#6,800
“junk” frequency rank
27775
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature judo junk
Definition A Japanese martial art and sport adapted from jujutsu. Miscellaneous items of little value, especially discarded or unwanted items.

Where the eye mixes judo and junk

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
judo
4 ch
junk

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. judo (/ˈd͡ʒuːdəʊ/) and junk (/d͡ʒʌŋk/) 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 27775, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

judo is recorded at frequency rank #20,975, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈd͡ʒuːdəʊ/. junk is at rank #6,800, tagged as anoun, pronounced /d͡ʒʌŋk/.

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 27775, this pair ranks #376,199 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of judo vs junk

Shared letters: ju. Private to "judo": do. Private to "junk": kn.

"judo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "junk" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • judojduo · jjudo · juddo · juod · ujdo
  • junkjjunk · jnuk · jukn · junkk · junnk · ujnk

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "judo" and "junk" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈd͡ʒuːdəʊ/ versus /d͡ʒʌŋk/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "judo" or "junk"?
"junk" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,800 in our English list, against #20,975 for "judo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list