Which to use
“perils” and “permits” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,169
- “perils” frequency rank
- #7,828
- “permits” frequency rank
- 32997
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | perils | permits |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of peril | plural of permit |
Where the eye mixes perils and permits
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: perils vs permits
A purely visual mix-up. perils (/ˈpɛɹɪlz/) and permits (/ˈpɝmɪts/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32997, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
perils is recorded at frequency rank #25,169, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɛɹɪlz/. permits is at rank #7,828, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɝmɪts/.
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 32997, this pair ranks #333,119 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of perils vs permits
Shared letters: eiprs. Private to "perils": l. Private to "permits": mt.
"perils" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "permits" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "perils" and "permits" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "perils" or "permits" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "perils" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "permits" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #333,119 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "perils" and "permits" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "penile vs perils". 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 #333,119 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.