# paste vs pest

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### paste
*noun · IPA /peɪst/ · frequency rank #8,183*
A soft moist mixture, in particular:

### pest
*noun · IPA /pɛst/ · frequency rank #12,295*
A pestilence, i.e. a deadly epidemic, a deadly plague.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/paste-vs-pest