plotvsportWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,588
“plot” frequency rank
#1,913
“port” frequency rank
4501
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature plot port
Definition The course of a story, comprising a series of incidents which are gradually unfolded, sometimes by unexpected means. A place on the coast at which ships can shelter, or dock to load and unload cargo or passengers.

Where the eye mixes plot and port

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
plot
4 ch
port

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. plot (/plɒt/) and port (/pɔːt/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4501, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

plot is recorded at frequency rank #2,588, classified as anoun, pronounced /plɒt/. port is at rank #1,913, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pɔːt/.

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 4501, this pair ranks #518,714 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of plot vs port

Shared letters: opt. Private to "plot": l. Private to "port": r.

"plot" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "port" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • plotlpot · pllot · plott · plto · polt · pplot
  • portoprt · porrt · portt · potr · pport

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "plot" and "port" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/plɒt/ versus /pɔːt/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "plot" or "port"?
"port" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,913 in our English list, against #2,588 for "plot". 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