paradevsparodyWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,528
“parade” frequency rank
#9,932
“parody” frequency rank
15460
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature parade parody
Definition An organized display of a group of people, particularly A work or performance that imitates another work or performance with ridicule or irony.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
parade
6 ch
parody

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. parade (/pəˈɹeɪd/) and parody (/ˈpæɹədi/) 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 15460, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

parade is recorded at frequency rank #5,528, classified as anoun, pronounced /pəˈɹeɪd/. parody is at rank #9,932, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpæɹədi/.

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 15460, this pair ranks #463,811 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of parade vs parody

Shared letters: adpr. Private to "parade": e. Private to "parody": oy.

"parade" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "parody" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • paradeaprade · paarde · paradde · paraed · pardae · parrade · pparade · praade
  • parodyaprody · paordy · pardoy · paroddy · parodyy · paroyd · parrody · pparody

Frequency comparison

parade#5,528
parody#9,932

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "parade" and "parody" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/pəˈɹeɪd/ versus /ˈpæɹədi/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "parade" or "parody"?
"parade" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,528 in our English list, against #9,932 for "parody". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering parade vs parody

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 “parade” 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