Which to use
“pricey” is an adjective and “prince” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,660
- “pricey” frequency rank
- #1,960
- “prince” frequency rank
- 20620
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pricey | prince |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Expensive, dear. | A (male) ruler, a sovereign; a king, monarch. |
Where the eye mixes pricey and prince
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. pricey (CCVCVV) and prince (CCVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses pricey with prince
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pricey is /ˈpɹaɪsi/ while prince is /pɹɪns/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20620, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pricey is recorded at frequency rank #18,660, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈpɹaɪsi/. prince is at rank #1,960, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pɹɪns/.
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 20620, this pair ranks #429,844 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pricey vs prince
Shared letters: ceipr. Private to "pricey": y. Private to "prince": n.
"pricey" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVV · "prince" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pricey" for "prince" ever safe?
Frequency check: "pricey" vs "prince" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "pricey" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "prince" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #429,844 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pricey" and "prince" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pricey vs prides". 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 #429,844 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.