packedvspeekedWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“packed” and “peeked” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#4,257
“packed” frequency rank
#44,994
“peeked” frequency rank
49251
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature packed peeked
Definition simple past and past participle of pack simple past and past participle of peek

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set packed and peeked apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
packed
6 ch
peeked

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. packed (/pækt/) and peeked (/piːkt/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49251, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

packed is recorded at frequency rank #4,257, classified as averb, pronounced /pækt/. peeked is at rank #44,994, tagged as averb, pronounced /piːkt/.

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 49251, this pair ranks #185,391 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of packed vs peeked

Shared letters: dekp. Private to "packed": ac. Private to "peeked": -.

"packed" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "peeked" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • packedapcked · paccked · pacekd · packde · packedd · packked · pakced · pcaked
  • peekedepeked · peeekd · peekde · peekedd · peekked · peked · pekeed · ppeeked

Frequency comparison

packed#4,257
peeked#44,994

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "packed" and "peeked" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/pækt/ versus /piːkt/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "packed" or "peeked"?
"packed" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,257 in our English list, against #44,994 for "peeked". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering packed vs peeked

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “packed” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list