likesvslinkerConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#1,907
“likes” frequency rank
#48,865
“linker” frequency rank
50772
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature likes linker
Definition plural of like That which links.

Where the eye mixes likes and linker

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. likes runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against linker's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
likes
6 ch
linker

Look-alike desk: likes vs linker

A purely visual mix-up. likes (/laɪks/) and linker (/ˈlɪŋkɚ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50772, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

likes is recorded at frequency rank #1,907, classified as anoun, pronounced /laɪks/. linker is at rank #48,865, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɪŋkɚ/.

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 50772, this pair ranks #171,291 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of likes vs linker

Shared letters: eikl. Private to "likes": s. Private to "linker": nr.

"likes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "linker" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • likes ← ilkes · lieks · likess · likkes · likse · lkies · llikes
  • linker ← ilnker · likner · linekr · linkerr · linkker · linkre · linnker · llinker

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "likes" for "linker" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/laɪks/ versus /ˈlɪŋkɚ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary English text, does "likes" or "linker" show up more?
"likes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,907 in our English list, against #48,865 for "linker". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "likes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "linker" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #171,291 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "likes" and "linker" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "liken vs linker". 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 #171,291 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