Which to use
“peak” and “pick” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,847
- “peak” frequency rank
- #881
- “pick” frequency rank
- 3728
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | peak | pick |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A point; the sharp end or top of anything that terminates in a point; as, the peak, or front, of a cap. | A tool used for digging; a pickaxe. |
Where the eye mixes peak and pick
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. peak (/piːk/) and pick (/pɪk/) 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 3728, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
peak is recorded at frequency rank #2,847, classified as anoun, pronounced /piːk/. pick is at rank #881, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pɪk/.
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 3728, this pair ranks #521,180 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of peak vs pick
Shared letters: kp. Private to "peak": ae. Private to "pick": ci.
"peak" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "pick" · 4 letters · shape CVCC