picksvspricesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“picks” and “prices” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#4,786
“picks” frequency rank
#1,403
“prices” frequency rank
6189
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature picks prices
Definition plural of pick plural of price

Where the eye mixes picks and prices

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
picks
6 ch
prices

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. picks (/pɪks/) and prices (/ˈpɹaɪsɪz/) 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 6189, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

picks is recorded at frequency rank #4,786, classified as anoun, pronounced /pɪks/. prices is at rank #1,403, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɹaɪsɪz/.

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 6189, this pair ranks #512,391 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of picks vs prices

Shared letters: cips. Private to "picks": k. Private to "prices": er.

"picks" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "prices" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • picksipcks · pciks · piccks · pickks · pickss · picsk · pikcs · ppicks
  • pricespirces · pprices · prcies · pricces · pricess · pricse · priecs · prrices

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "picks" and "prices" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/pɪks/ versus /ˈpɹaɪsɪz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "picks" or "prices"?
"prices" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,403 in our English list, against #4,786 for "picks". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list