# measles vs measly

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### measles
*noun · IPA /ˈmizəlz/ · frequency rank #18,887*
An acute and highly contagious disease which often afflicts children caused by the virus Measles morbillivirus and causing red rashes, fever, runny nose, coughing, and red eyes.

### measly
*adjective · IPA /ˈmiːzli/ · frequency rank #37,570*
Particularly of pigs or pork: infected with larval tapeworms or trichinae (parasitic roundworms).

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/measles-vs-measly