Which to use
“persistence” is a noun and “persistent” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,808
- “persistence” frequency rank
- #8,329
- “persistent” frequency rank
- 23137
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | persistence | persistent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The property of being persistent. | Obstinately refusing to give up or let go. |
Where the eye mixes persistence and persistent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses persistence with persistent
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: persistence is /pəˈsɪst(ə)ns/ while persistent is /pɚˈsɪstənt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23137, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
persistence is recorded at frequency rank #14,808, classified as anoun, pronounced /pəˈsɪst(ə)ns/. persistent is at rank #8,329, tagged as anadj, pronounced /pɚˈsɪstənt/.
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 23137, this pair ranks #411,486 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of persistence vs persistent
Shared letters: einprst. Private to "persistence": c. Private to "persistent": -.
"persistence" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCCV · "persistent" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- persistence ← eprsistence · perisstence · perrsistence · persisetnce · persisstence · persistance · persistecne · persistencce
- persistent ← eprsistent · perisstent · perrsistent · persisetnt · persisstent · persistennt · persistentt · persistetn
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "persistence" for "persistent" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "persistence" or "persistent" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "persistence" and "persistent" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "persistence" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "persistent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #411,486 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "persistence" and "persistent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "persistent vs persisting". 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 #411,486 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.