Which to use
“premise” and “promise” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,384
- “premise” frequency rank
- #2,009
- “promise” frequency rank
- 11393
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | premise | promise |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A proposition antecedently supposed or proved; something previously stated or assumed as the basis of further argument; a condition; a supposition. | An oath or affirmation; a vow. |
Where the eye mixes premise and promise
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. premise and promise follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: premise vs promise
A purely visual mix-up. premise (/ˈpɹɛm.ɪs/) and promise (/ˈpɹɒmɪs/) 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 a single letter - e in “premise” becomes o in “promise”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11393, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
premise is recorded at frequency rank #9,384, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɹɛm.ɪs/. promise is at rank #2,009, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɹɒmɪs/.
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 11393, this pair ranks #487,293 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of premise vs promise
Shared letters: eimprs. Private to "premise": -. Private to "promise": o.
"premise" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV · "promise" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "premise" and "promise" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "premise" vs "promise" - which ranks higher?
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 "premise" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "promise" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #487,293 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "premise" and "promise" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "promise vs proviso". 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 #487,293 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.