Which to use
“packed” and “poked” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,257
- “packed” frequency rank
- #21,618
- “poked” frequency rank
- 25875
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | packed | poked |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of pack | simple past and past participle of poke |
Where the eye mixes packed and poked
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between packed and poked
A purely visual mix-up. packed (/pækt/) and poked (/pəʊkt/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25875, 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/. poked is at rank #21,618, tagged as averb, pronounced /pəʊkt/.
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 25875, this pair ranks #390,972 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of packed vs poked
Shared letters: dekp. Private to "packed": ac. Private to "poked": o.
"packed" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "poked" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "packed" for "poked" ever safe?
Which is more common, "packed" or "poked"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "packed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "poked" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #390,972 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "packed" and "poked" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "plied vs poked". 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 #390,972 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.