Which to use
“parse” and “paused” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,782
- “parse” frequency rank
- #17,689
- “paused” frequency rank
- 47471
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | parse | paused |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To resolve (a sentence, etc.) into its elements, pointing out the several parts of speech, and their relation to each other by agreement or government; to analyze and describe grammatically. | simple past and past participle of pause |
Where the eye mixes parse and paused
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses parse with paused
A purely visual mix-up. parse (/pɑːz/) and paused (/pɔːzd/) 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 47471, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
parse is recorded at frequency rank #29,782, classified as averb, pronounced /pɑːz/. paused is at rank #17,689, tagged as averb, pronounced /pɔːzd/.
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 47471, this pair ranks #202,119 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of parse vs paused
Shared letters: aeps. Private to "parse": r. Private to "paused": du.
"parse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "paused" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "parse" and "paused" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "parse" or "paused" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "parse" and "paused" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "parse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "paused" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #202,119 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "parse" and "paused" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Palme vs parse". 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 #202,119 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.