Which to use
“modesty” is a noun and “molest” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #21,286
- “modesty” frequency rank
- #40,346
- “molest” frequency rank
- 61632
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | modesty | molest |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The quality of being modest; having a limited and not overly high opinion of oneself and one's abilities. | To sexually assault or sexually harass. |
Where the eye mixes modesty and molest
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. modesty runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against molest's 6 (CVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between modesty and molest
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: modesty is /ˈmɒd.ə.sti/ while molest is /məˈlɛst/. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61632, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
modesty is recorded at frequency rank #21,286, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɒd.ə.sti/. molest is at rank #40,346, tagged as averb, pronounced /məˈlɛst/.
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 61632, this pair ranks #93,126 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of modesty vs molest
Shared letters: emost. Private to "modesty": dy. Private to "molest": l.
"modesty" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "molest" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "modesty" and "molest" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "modesty" or "molest" 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 "modesty" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "molest" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #93,126 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "modesty" and "molest" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "molest vs molester". 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 #93,126 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.