Which to use
“peeked” and “picked” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #44,994
- “peeked” frequency rank
- #1,956
- “picked” frequency rank
- 46950
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | peeked | picked |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of peek | simple past and past participle of pick |
Where the eye mixes peeked and picked
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. peeked (CVVCVC) and picked (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between peeked and picked
A purely visual mix-up. peeked (/piːkt/) and picked (/pɪkt/) 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 46950, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
peeked is recorded at frequency rank #44,994, classified as averb, pronounced /piːkt/. picked is at rank #1,956, tagged as averb, pronounced /pɪkt/.
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 46950, this pair ranks #206,996 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of peeked vs picked
Shared letters: dekp. Private to "peeked": -. Private to "picked": ci.
"peeked" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "picked" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "peeked" for "picked" ever safe?
Frequency check: "peeked" vs "picked" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "peeked" and "picked" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "peeked" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "picked" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #206,996 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "peeked" and "picked" 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 #206,996 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.