Which to use
“pest” is a noun and “pester” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,295
- “pest” frequency rank
- #48,966
- “pester” frequency rank
- 61261
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pest | pester |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A pestilence, i.e. a deadly epidemic, a deadly plague. | To bother, harass, or annoy persistently. |
Where the eye mixes pest and pester
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between pest and pester
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pest is /pɛst/ while pester is /ˈpɛstə(ɹ)/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “pest” sits inside “pester”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61261, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pest is recorded at frequency rank #12,295, classified as anoun, pronounced /pɛst/. pester is at rank #48,966, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈpɛstə(ɹ)/.
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 61261, this pair ranks #95,254 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of pest vs pester
Shared letters: epst. Private to "pest": -. Private to "pester": r.
"pest" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "pester" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pest" and "pester" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "pest" or "pester"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "pest" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pester" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #95,254 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pest" and "pester" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pester vs Petey". 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 #95,254 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.