Which to use
“marry” is a verb and “martyr” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,637
- “marry” frequency rank
- #15,862
- “martyr” frequency rank
- 19499
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | marry | martyr |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To enter into the conjugal or connubial state; to take a husband or a wife. | One who willingly accepts being put to death or willingly accepts challenging and exposing iniquity done to oneself for adhering openly to one's religious beliefs; notably, saints canonized after red martyrdom. |
Where the eye mixes marry and martyr
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses marry with martyr
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: marry is /ˈmæɹ.ɪ/ while martyr is /ˈmɐːtə(ɹ)/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19499, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
marry is recorded at frequency rank #3,637, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈmæɹ.ɪ/. martyr is at rank #15,862, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɐːtə(ɹ)/.
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 19499, this pair ranks #437,735 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of marry vs martyr
Shared letters: amry. Private to "marry": -. Private to "martyr": t.
"marry" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "martyr" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "marry" and "martyr" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "marry" or "martyr"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "marry" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "martyr" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #437,735 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "marry" and "martyr" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "martyr vs Merthyr". 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 #437,735 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.