Which to use
“poise” is a noun and “poised” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #27,600
- “poise” frequency rank
- #16,560
- “poised” frequency rank
- 44160
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | poise | poised |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A state of balance, equilibrium or stability. | Possessing poise, having self-confidence. |
Where the eye mixes poise and poised
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. poise runs 5 letters (CVVCV) against poised's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses poise with poised
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: poise is /pɔɪz/ while poised is /pɔɪzd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “poise” sits inside “poised”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44160, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
poise is recorded at frequency rank #27,600, classified as anoun, pronounced /pɔɪz/. poised is at rank #16,560, tagged as anadj, pronounced /pɔɪzd/.
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 44160, this pair ranks #233,158 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of poise vs poised
Shared letters: eiops. Private to "poise": -. Private to "poised": d.
"poise" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "poised" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "poise" and "poised" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "poise" or "poised"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "poise" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "poised" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #233,158 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "poise" and "poised" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "poise vs pons". 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 #233,158 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.