Which to use
“precarious” and “precious” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,463
- “precarious” frequency rank
- #4,104
- “precious” frequency rank
- 24567
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | precarious | precious |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous. | Of high value or worth. |
Where the eye mixes precarious and precious
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: precarious vs precious
A purely visual mix-up. precarious (/pɹɪˈkɛəɹi.əs/) and precious (/ˈpɹɛʃ.əs/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24567, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
precarious is recorded at frequency rank #20,463, classified as anadj, pronounced /pɹɪˈkɛəɹi.əs/. precious is at rank #4,104, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈpɹɛʃ.əs/.
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 24567, this pair ranks #401,019 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of precarious vs precious
Shared letters: ceioprsu. Private to "precarious": a. Private to "precious": -.
"precarious" · 10 letters · shape CCVCVCVVVC · "precious" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- precarious ← percarious · pprecarious · prcearious · preacrious · precairous · precariosu · precariouss · precariuos
- precious ← percious · pprecious · prceious · preccious · preciosu · preciouss · preciuos · precoius
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "precarious" and "precious" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "precarious" vs "precious" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "precarious" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "precious" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #401,019 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "precarious" and "precious" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "precarious vs precocious". 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 #401,019 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.