Which to use
“peek” and “peeked” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,262
- “peek” frequency rank
- #44,994
- “peeked” frequency rank
- 56256
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | peek | peeked |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To look slyly, or with the eyes half closed, or through a crevice; to peep. | simple past and past participle of peek |
Where the eye mixes peek and peeked
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. peek runs 4 letters (CVVC) against peeked's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between peek and peeked
A purely visual mix-up. peek (/piːk/) and peeked (/piːkt/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “peek” sits inside “peeked”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56256, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
peek is recorded at frequency rank #11,262, classified as averb, pronounced /piːk/. peeked is at rank #44,994, tagged as averb, pronounced /piːkt/.
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 56256, this pair ranks #127,583 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of peek vs peeked
Shared letters: ekp. Private to "peek": -. Private to "peeked": d.
"peek" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "peeked" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "peek" for "peeked" ever safe?
Which is more common, "peek" or "peeked"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "peek" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "peeked" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #127,583 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "peek" and "peeked" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "peeked vs peeks". 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 #127,583 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.