Which to use
“potable” and “probable” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #35,887
- “potable” frequency rank
- #9,799
- “probable” frequency rank
- 45686
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | potable | probable |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Good for drinking without fear of waterborne disease or poisoning. | Likely or most likely to be true. |
Where the eye mixes potable and probable
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between potable and probable
A purely visual mix-up. potable (/ˈpəʊtəbəl/) and probable (/ˈpɹɒbəbl̩/) 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 45686, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
potable is recorded at frequency rank #35,887, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈpəʊtəbəl/. probable is at rank #9,799, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈpɹɒbəbl̩/.
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 45686, this pair ranks #218,921 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of potable vs probable
Shared letters: abelop. Private to "potable": t. Private to "probable": r.
"potable" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "probable" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "potable" and "probable" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "potable" or "probable" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "potable" and "probable" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "potable" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "probable" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #218,921 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "potable" and "probable" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pliable vs potable". 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 #218,921 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.