Which to use
“obey” is a verb and “ore” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,219
- “obey” frequency rank
- #6,076
- “ore” frequency rank
- 15295
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | obey | ore |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To do as ordered by (a person, institution etc), to act according to the bidding of. | Rock or other material that contains valuable or utilitarian materials; primarily a rock containing metals or gems for which it is typically mined and processed. |
Where the eye mixes obey and ore
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: obey is /əʊˈbeɪ/ while ore is /oɹ/. 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 15295, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
obey is recorded at frequency rank #9,219, classified as averb, pronounced /əʊˈbeɪ/. ore is at rank #6,076, tagged as anoun, pronounced /oɹ/.
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 15295, this pair ranks #464,890 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of obey vs ore
Shared letters: eo. Private to "obey": by. Private to "ore": r.
"obey" · 4 letters · shape VCVV · "ore" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- obey ← boey · obbey · obeyy · obye · oeby