likablevslivableWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#30,481
“likable” frequency rank
#37,069
“livable” frequency rank
67550
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature likable livable
Definition Having qualities tending to result in being liked; friendly, personable. Endurable, survivable, suitable for living in, inhabitable.

Letter map: likable vs livable

Shared letters muted; letters that set likable and livable apart highlighted. Shared run: 6.

7 ch
likable
7 ch
livable

Corpus notes: likable and livable

likable and livable are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by a single letter - k in “likable” becomes v in “livable”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67550, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

likable is recorded at frequency rank #30,481, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈlaɪkəbl̩/. livable is at rank #37,069, tagged as anadj.

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 67550, this pair ranks #62,822 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of likable vs livable

Shared letters: abeil. Private to "likable": k. Private to "livable": v.

"likable" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "livable" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • likableilkable · liakble · likabble · likabel · likablle · likalbe · likbale · likible
  • livableilvable · liavble · livabble · livabel · livablle · livalbe · livbale · livible

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "likable" and "livable" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by a single letter - k in “likable” becomes v in “livable”, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
In ordinary English text, does "likable" or "livable" show up more?
"likable" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,481 in our English list, against #37,069 for "livable". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

You've compared "likable" and "livable". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "likable" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "livable" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #62,822 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "likable" and "livable" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "livable vs loveable". 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 #62,822 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