pecvspeekWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: pec is a noun, peek is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“pec” is a noun and “peek” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#47,251
“pec” frequency rank
#11,262
“peek” frequency rank
58513
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pec peek
Definition The pectoralis major muscle. To look slyly, or with the eyes half closed, or through a crevice; to peep.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pec and peek apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
pec
4 ch
peek

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: pec is anoun and peekaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58513, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pec is recorded at frequency rank #47,251, classified as anoun. peek is at rank #11,262, tagged as averb, pronounced /piːk/.

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 58513, this pair ranks #112,046 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pec vs peek

Shared letters: ep. Private to "pec": c. Private to "peek": k.

"pec" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "peek" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • peekepek · peekk · pek · peke · ppeek

Frequency comparison

pec#47,251
peek#11,262

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pec" and "peek" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pec" is a noun and "peek" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pec" or "peek"?
"peek" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,262 in our English list, against #47,251 for "pec". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pec vs peek

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “pec”; for a verb, it's “peek”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pec” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list