Which to use
“point” and “port” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #265
- “point” frequency rank
- #1,913
- “port” frequency rank
- 2178
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | point | port |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A small dot or mark. | A place on the coast at which ships can shelter, or dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. |
Where the eye mixes point and port
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. point (/pɔɪnt/) 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2178, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
point is recorded at frequency rank #265, classified as anoun, pronounced /pɔɪnt/. 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 2178, this pair ranks #525,669 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of point vs port
Shared letters: opt. Private to "point": in. Private to "port": r.
"point" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "port" · 4 letters · shape CVCC