Which to use
“perm” and “pets” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,863
- “perm” frequency rank
- #6,280
- “pets” frequency rank
- 31143
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | perm | pets |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Clipping of permanent wave (“hairstyle”). | plural of pet |
Where the eye mixes perm and pets
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses perm with pets
A purely visual mix-up. perm (/pɝm/) and pets (/pɛts/) 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 31143, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
perm is recorded at frequency rank #24,863, classified as anoun, pronounced /pɝm/. pets is at rank #6,280, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pɛts/.
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 31143, this pair ranks #348,656 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of perm vs pets
Shared letters: ep. Private to "perm": mr. Private to "pets": st.
"perm" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "pets" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "perm" and "pets" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "perm" or "pets"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "perm" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pets" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #348,656 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "perm" and "pets" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pecs vs perm". 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 #348,656 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.