marketvsmarvelWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#513
“market” frequency rank
#5,521
“marvel” frequency rank
6034
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature market marvel
Definition A gathering of people for the purchase and sale of merchandise, often periodic at a set time. That which causes wonder; a prodigy; a portent.

Where the eye mixes market and marvel

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
market
6 ch
marvel

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. market (/ˈmɑːkɪt/) and marvel (/ˈmɑɹvl̩/) 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 6034, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

market is recorded at frequency rank #513, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɑːkɪt/. marvel is at rank #5,521, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɑɹvl̩/.

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 6034, this pair ranks #513,026 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of market vs marvel

Shared letters: aemr. Private to "market": kt. Private to "marvel": lv.

"market" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "marvel" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • marketamrket · makret · marekt · markett · markket · markte · marrket · mmarket
  • marvelamrvel · marevl · marrvel · marvell · marvle · marvvel · mavrel · mmarvel

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "market" and "marvel" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈmɑːkɪt/ versus /ˈmɑɹvl̩/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "market" or "marvel"?
"market" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #513 in our English list, against #5,521 for "marvel". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list