Which to use
“obey” is a verb and “orgy” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,219
- “obey” frequency rank
- #21,304
- “orgy” frequency rank
- 30523
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | obey | orgy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To do as ordered by (a person, institution etc), to act according to the bidding of. | A secret rite or ceremony, typically involving riotous and dissolute behavior, including dancing, drunkenness and indiscriminate sexual activity, undertaken in honor of various pagan gods or goddesses (such as Attis, Bacchus, Ceres, Dionysus, Osiris, etc). |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set obey and orgy apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: obey is /əʊˈbeɪ/ while orgy is /ˈɔː.d͡ʒi/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30523, 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/. orgy is at rank #21,304, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɔː.d͡ʒi/.
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 30523, this pair ranks #353,843 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of obey vs orgy
Shared letters: oy. Private to "obey": be. Private to "orgy": gr.
"obey" · 4 letters · shape VCVV · "orgy" · 4 letters · shape VCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "obey" and "orgy" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "obey" or "orgy"?
Remembering obey vs orgy
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “obey”; for a noun, it's “orgy”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “obey” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable