Which to use
“permit” and “persist” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,970
- “permit” frequency rank
- #14,381
- “persist” frequency rank
- 19351
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | permit | persist |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To allow (something) to happen, to give permission for. | To go on stubbornly or resolutely. |
Where the eye mixes permit and persist
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: permit vs persist
A purely visual mix-up. permit (/pɚˈmɪt/) and persist (/pɚˈsɪst/) 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 19351, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
permit is recorded at frequency rank #4,970, classified as averb, pronounced /pɚˈmɪt/. persist is at rank #14,381, tagged as averb, pronounced /pɚˈsɪst/.
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 19351, this pair ranks #438,777 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of permit vs persist
Shared letters: eiprt. Private to "permit": m. Private to "persist": s.
"permit" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "persist" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "permit" and "persist" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "permit" vs "persist" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "permit" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "persist" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #438,777 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "permit" and "persist" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "persist vs purist". 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 #438,777 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.