Which to use
“pique” is a verb and “pixie” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,706
- “pique” frequency rank
- #23,945
- “pixie” frequency rank
- 55651
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pique | pixie |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To wound the pride of (someone); to excite to anger; to irritate, to offend. | A playful sprite or elflike or fairy-like creature. |
Where the eye mixes pique and pixie
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: pique vs pixie
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pique is /piːk/ while pixie is /ˈpɪksi/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55651, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pique is recorded at frequency rank #31,706, classified as averb, pronounced /piːk/. pixie is at rank #23,945, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɪksi/.
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 55651, this pair ranks #132,025 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of pique vs pixie
Shared letters: eip. Private to "pique": qu. Private to "pixie": x.
"pique" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "pixie" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pique" and "pixie" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "pique" or "pixie"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "pique" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pixie" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #132,025 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pique" and "pixie" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pique vs piqued". 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 #132,025 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.