Which to use
“point” and “poise” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #265
- “point” frequency rank
- #27,600
- “poise” frequency rank
- 27865
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | point | poise |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A small dot or mark. | A state of balance, equilibrium or stability. |
Where the eye mixes point and poise
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. point (/pɔɪnt/) and poise (/pɔɪz/) 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 27865, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
point is recorded at frequency rank #265, classified as anoun, pronounced /pɔɪnt/. poise is at rank #27,600, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pɔɪz/.
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 27865, this pair ranks #375,495 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of point vs poise
Shared letters: iop. Private to "point": nt. Private to "poise": es.
"point" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "poise" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV