Price or prize?
price is a noun meaning “The cost required to gain possession of something”; prize is a noun meaning “That which is taken from another; something captured; a thing seized by force…”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) price is about 4.4 times as common as prize.
What is the difference between price and prize?
| price | prize | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb | noun, verb, adjective |
| Meaning | The cost required to gain possession of something The cost of an action or deed To determine the monetary value of (an item); to put a price on | That which is taken from another; something captured; a thing seized by force, stratagem, or superior power Anything captured by a belligerent using the rights of war; especially, property captured at sea in virtue of the rights of war, as a vessel To consider highly valuable; to esteem |
| Example | I paid a high price for my folly | a prize vegetable |
| Forms | prices | prizes |
| Pronunciation | /ˈpɹaɪ̯s/ /ˈpɹɐɪ̯s/ /ˈpɹɜɪ̯s/ | /ˈpɹaɪ̯z/ /ˈpɹɑ̟ɪ̯z/ /ˈpɹɒ̈ɪ̯z/ |
| In writing | 170 times per million words | 39 times per million words |
Sources: price and prize in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of price and prize
price
- 1
The cost required to gain possession of something
- 2
To determine the monetary value of (an item); to put a price on
- 3
Acronym of protect, rest, ice, compression, and elevation (“a common treatment method for sprained joints”)
- 4
The cost of an action or deed
I paid a high price for my folly
- 5
To find out what something costs
We priced a few laptops before deciding which one to buy
- 6
Value; estimation; excellence; worth
- 7
colloquialdatedTo ask the price of
to price eggs
prize
- 1
That which is taken from another; something captured; a thing seized by force, stratagem, or superior power
- 2
To consider highly valuable; to esteem
- 3
Having won a prize; award-winning
a prize vegetable
- 4
Anything captured by a belligerent using the rights of war; especially, property captured at sea in virtue of the rights of war, as a vessel
- 5
To move with a lever; to force up or open; to prise or pry
- 6
First-rate; exceptional
He was a prize fool
- 7
An honour or reward striven for in a competitive contest; anything offered to be competed for, or as an inducement to, or reward of, effort
- 8
That which may be won by chance, as in a lottery
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, price or prize?
price appears 170 times per million words; prize 39 times per million words.
price 170 times per million wordsprize 39 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search price vs prize?
“price vs prize” is searched about 260 times a month on Google and 20 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“prize vs price”, “price or prize”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.