Which to use
“paddle” and “peddler” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,239
- “paddle” frequency rank
- #46,684
- “peddler” frequency rank
- 61923
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | paddle | peddler |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A two-handed implement consisting of a shaft with one or two blades attached to the end(s) used to propel a canoe, kayak or a small boat. A paddle is unattached to the boat and freely operated with the hands, compared with an oar which is attached to the boat at a pivot point. | An itinerant seller of small goods. |
Where the eye mixes paddle and peddler
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. paddle runs 6 letters (CVCCCV) against peddler's 7 (CVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between paddle and peddler
A purely visual mix-up. paddle (/ˈpædl̩/) and peddler (/ˈpɛdlə/) 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 61923, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
paddle is recorded at frequency rank #15,239, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpædl̩/. peddler is at rank #46,684, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɛdlə/.
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 61923, this pair ranks #91,386 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of paddle vs peddler
Shared letters: delp. Private to "paddle": a. Private to "peddler": r.
"paddle" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "peddler" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "paddle" for "peddler" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "paddle" or "peddler" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "paddle" and "peddler" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "paddle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "peddler" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #91,386 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "paddle" and "peddler" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "peddle vs peddler". 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 #91,386 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.