Which to use
“marked” is an adjective and “Markey” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,007
- “marked” frequency rank
- #47,180
- “Markey” frequency rank
- 50187
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | marked | Markey |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Having a visible or identifying mark. | A surname from Irish. |
Where the eye mixes marked and Markey
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. marked (CVCCVC) and Markey (CVCCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between marked and Markey
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: marked is /mɑːkt/ while Markey is /ˈmɑː(ɹ)ki/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - d in “marked” becomes y in “Markey”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50187, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
marked is recorded at frequency rank #3,007, classified as anadj, pronounced /mɑːkt/. Markey is at rank #47,180, tagged as aname, pronounced /ˈmɑː(ɹ)ki/.
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 50187, this pair ranks #176,570 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of marked vs Markey
Shared letters: aekmr. Private to "marked": d. Private to "Markey": y.
"marked" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "Markey" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "marked" for "Markey" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "marked" or "Markey" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "marked" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Markey" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #176,570 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "marked" and "Markey" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Markey vs Marne". 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 #176,570 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.