Which to use
“pled” is a verb and “Poe” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #40,395
- “pled” frequency rank
- #13,986
- “Poe” frequency rank
- 54381
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pled | Poe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of plead | A surname from Old Norse |
Where the eye mixes pled and Poe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses pled with Poe
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pled is /plɛd/ while Poe is /pəʊ/. 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 (verb vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54381, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pled is recorded at frequency rank #40,395, classified as averb, pronounced /plɛd/. Poe is at rank #13,986, tagged as aname, pronounced /pəʊ/.
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 54381, this pair ranks #141,514 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pled vs Poe
Shared letters: ep. Private to "pled": dl. Private to "Poe": o.
"pled" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "Poe" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- pled ← lped · peld · plde · pledd · plled · ppled
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pled" for "Poe" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "pled" or "Poe" show up more?
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 "pled" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Poe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #141,514 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pled" and "Poe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pled vs plied". 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 #141,514 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.