Which to use
“pore” and “power” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,186
- “pore” frequency rank
- #280
- “power” frequency rank
- 20466
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pore | power |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A tiny opening in the skin. | The ability to do or undergo something. |
Where the eye mixes pore and power
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses pore with power
A purely visual mix-up. pore (/pɔː(ɹ)/) and power (/ˈpaʊ̯ə̯/) 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 20466, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pore is recorded at frequency rank #20,186, classified as anoun, pronounced /pɔː(ɹ)/. power is at rank #280, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpaʊ̯ə̯/.
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 20466, this pair ranks #430,887 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pore vs power
Shared letters: eopr. Private to "pore": -. Private to "power": w.
"pore" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "power" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pore" for "power" ever safe?
Frequency check: "pore" vs "power" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "pore" and "power" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pore" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "power" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #430,887 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pore" and "power" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pore 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 #430,887 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.