passcodevspostcodeConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#41,804
“passcode” frequency rank
#29,045
“postcode” frequency rank
70849
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature passcode postcode
Definition A string of characters used for authentication on a digital device. A sequence of letters and numbers added to a postal address to aid the sorting and delivery of post or mail.

Letter map: passcode vs postcode

Shared letters muted; letters that set passcode and postcode apart highlighted. Shared run: 6.

8 ch
passcode
8 ch
postcode

Pair insight - passcode / postcode

passcode and postcode are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70849, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

passcode is recorded at frequency rank #41,804, classified as anoun. postcode is at rank #29,045, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpəʊs(t)kəʊd/.

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 70849, this pair ranks #48,986 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of passcode vs postcode

Shared letters: cdeops. Private to "passcode": a. Private to "postcode": t.

"passcode" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCV  ·  "postcode" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • passcodeapsscode · pascode · pascsode · passccode · passcdoe · passcodde · passcoed · passocde
  • postcodeopstcode · posctode · posstcode · postccode · postcdoe · postcodde · postcoed · postocde

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "passcode" and "postcode" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "passcode" or "postcode"?
"postcode" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,045 in our English list, against #41,804 for "passcode". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "passcode" and "postcode".

  • Full dictionary entry for "passcode" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "postcode" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #48,986 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "passcode" and "postcode" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "postcode vs postpone". 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 #48,986 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