parservsporterWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#45,572
“parser” frequency rank
#7,375
“porter” frequency rank
52947
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature parser porter
Definition A computer program that parses. A person who carries luggage and related objects.

Where the eye mixes parser and porter

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
parser
6 ch
porter

Look-alike desk: parser vs porter

A purely visual mix-up. parser (/ˈpɑː(ɹ).zə/) and porter (/ˈpɔɹtɚ/) 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 52947, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

parser is recorded at frequency rank #45,572, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɑː(ɹ).zə/. porter is at rank #7,375, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɔɹtɚ/.

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 52947, this pair ranks #152,906 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of parser vs porter

Shared letters: epr. Private to "parser": as. Private to "porter": ot.

"parser" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "porter" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • parseraprser · paresr · parrser · parserr · parsre · parsser · pasrer · pparser
  • porteroprter · poretr · porrter · porterr · portre · portter · potrer · pporter

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "parser" and "porter" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈpɑː(ɹ).zə/ versus /ˈpɔɹtɚ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "parser" vs "porter" - which ranks higher?
"porter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,375 in our English list, against #45,572 for "parser". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "parser" and "porter" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "parser" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "porter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #152,906 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "parser" and "porter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "parley vs parser". 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 #152,906 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list