Which to use
“pokes” and “posed” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,127
- “pokes” frequency rank
- #9,510
- “posed” frequency rank
- 41637
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pokes | posed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | third-person singular simple present indicative of poke | simple past and past participle of pose |
Where the eye mixes pokes and posed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses pokes with posed
A purely visual mix-up. pokes (/pəʊks/) and posed (/pəʊzd/) 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 41637, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pokes is recorded at frequency rank #32,127, classified as averb, pronounced /pəʊks/. posed is at rank #9,510, tagged as averb, pronounced /pəʊzd/.
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 41637, this pair ranks #256,442 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pokes vs posed
Shared letters: eops. Private to "pokes": k. Private to "posed": d.
"pokes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "posed" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pokes" and "posed" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "pokes" or "posed" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "pokes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "posed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #256,442 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pokes" and "posed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pokes vs Pyke". 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 #256,442 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.