Which to use
“parse” and “peruse” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,782
- “parse” frequency rank
- #40,385
- “peruse” frequency rank
- 70167
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | parse | peruse |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | To examine or consider with care. |
Where the eye mixes parse and peruse
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. parse runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against peruse's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses parse with peruse
A purely visual mix-up. parse (/pɑːz/) and peruse (/pəˈɹuːz/) 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 70167, 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/. peruse is at rank #40,385, tagged as averb, pronounced /pəˈɹuːz/.
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 70167, this pair ranks #51,614 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of parse vs peruse
Shared letters: eprs. Private to "parse": a. Private to "peruse": u.
"parse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "peruse" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "parse" for "peruse" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "parse" or "peruse" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "parse" and "peruse" 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 "peruse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #51,614 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "parse" and "peruse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "peruse vs prude". 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 #51,614 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.