Which to use
“payed” and “poked” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #30,911
- “payed” frequency rank
- #21,618
- “poked” frequency rank
- 52529
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | payed | poked |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Obsolete spelling of paid. | simple past and past participle of poke |
Letter map: payed vs poked
Shared letters muted; letters that set payed and poked apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. payed (CVVVC) and poked (CVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Pair insight - payed / poked
payed and poked 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 52529, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
payed is recorded at frequency rank #30,911, classified as averb. poked is at rank #21,618, tagged as averb, pronounced /pəʊkt/.
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 52529, this pair ranks #156,268 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of payed vs poked
Shared letters: dep. Private to "payed": ay. Private to "poked": ko.
"payed" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC · "poked" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "payed" and "poked" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "payed" or "poked"?
After this comparison
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "payed" and "poked".
- Full dictionary entry for "payed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "poked" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #156,268 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "payed" and "poked" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "payed vs plied". 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 #156,268 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.