Which to use
“parson” and “poison” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,272
- “parson” frequency rank
- #6,282
- “poison” frequency rank
- 42554
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | parson | poison |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An Anglican cleric having full legal control of a parish under ecclesiastical law. | A substance that is harmful or lethal to a living organism when ingested. |
Where the eye mixes parson and poison
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses parson with poison
A purely visual mix-up. parson (/ˈpɑːs(ə)n/) and poison (/ˈpɔɪ.zən/) 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 42554, 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/. poison is at rank #6,282, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɔɪ.zən/.
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 42554, this pair ranks #248,126 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of parson vs poison
Shared letters: nops. Private to "parson": ar. Private to "poison": i.
"parson" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "poison" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "parson" and "poison" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "parson" vs "poison" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "parson" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "poison" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #248,126 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "parson" and "poison" 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 #248,126 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.