parley vs parsley, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#46,678
“parley” frequency rank: #20,454
“parsley” frequency rank: 67132
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	parley	parsley
Definition	A conference, especially one between enemies.	A bright green, biennial herb, Petroselinum crispum, having many cultivars.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set parley and parsley apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

parley

7 ch

parsley

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. parley (/ˈpɑː(ɹ)li/) and parsley (/ˈpɑː(ɹ)sli/) 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 67132, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

parley is recorded at frequency rank #46,678, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɑː(ɹ)li/. parsley is at rank #20,454, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɑː(ɹ)sli/.

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 67132, this pair ranks #64,764 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of parley vs parsley

Shared letters: aelpry. Private to "parley": -. Private to "parsley": s.

"parley" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV · "parsley" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

parley ← aprley · palrey · parely · parleyy · parlley · parlye · parrley · pparley
parsley ← aprsley · parlsey · parrsley · parsely · parsleyy · parslley · parslye · parssley

Frequency comparison

parley#46,678

parsley#20,454

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "parley" and "parsley" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/ˈpɑː(ɹ)li/ versus /ˈpɑː(ɹ)sli/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "parley" or "parsley"?

"parsley" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,454 in our English list, against #46,678 for "parley". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering parley vs parsley

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 “parley” entry
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