Which to use
“poisoned” is an adjective and “prisoner” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,402
- “poisoned” frequency rank
- #5,155
- “prisoner” frequency rank
- 18557
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | poisoned | prisoner |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Killed, paralysed, or harmed by receiving a dose of poison. | A person incarcerated in a prison, while on trial or serving a sentence. |
Where the eye mixes poisoned and prisoner
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses poisoned with prisoner
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: poisoned is /ˈpɔɪzn̩d/ while prisoner is /ˈpɹɪzənə/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18557, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
poisoned is recorded at frequency rank #13,402, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈpɔɪzn̩d/. prisoner is at rank #5,155, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɹɪzənə/.
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 18557, this pair ranks #444,093 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of poisoned vs prisoner
Shared letters: einops. Private to "poisoned": d. Private to "prisoner": r.
"poisoned" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCVC · "prisoner" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "poisoned" and "prisoner" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "poisoned" or "prisoner" show up more?
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 "poisoned" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "prisoner" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #444,093 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "poisoned" and "prisoner" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "poised vs poisoned". 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 #444,093 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.