Which to use
“parson” and “persons” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,272
- “parson” frequency rank
- #3,443
- “persons” frequency rank
- 39715
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | parson | persons |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An Anglican cleric having full legal control of a parish under ecclesiastical law. | plural of person, used to refer to them individually, rather than as a group; contrast people |
Where the eye mixes parson and persons
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: parson vs persons
A purely visual mix-up. parson (/ˈpɑːs(ə)n/) and persons (/ˈpɜː.sənz/) 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 39715, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
parson is recorded at frequency rank #36,272, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɑːs(ə)n/. persons is at rank #3,443, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɜː.sənz/.
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 39715, this pair ranks #274,205 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of parson vs persons
Shared letters: noprs. Private to "parson": a. Private to "persons": e.
"parson" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "persons" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "parson" and "persons" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "parson" vs "persons" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "parson" and "persons" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "parson" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "persons" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #274,205 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "parson" and "persons" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "parser vs parson". 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 #274,205 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.