Which to use
“probe” and “problem” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,266
- “probe” frequency rank
- #391
- “problem” frequency rank
- 7657
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | probe | problem |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Any of various medical instruments used to explore wounds, organs, etc. | A difficulty that has to be resolved or dealt with. |
Where the eye mixes probe and problem
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses probe with problem
A purely visual mix-up. probe (/pɹəʊb/) and problem (/ˈpɹɒbləm/) 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 7657, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
probe is recorded at frequency rank #7,266, classified as anoun, pronounced /pɹəʊb/. problem is at rank #391, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɹɒbləm/.
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 7657, this pair ranks #506,164 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of probe vs problem
Shared letters: beopr. Private to "probe": -. Private to "problem": lm.
"probe" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "problem" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "probe" for "problem" ever safe?
Which is more common, "probe" or "problem"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "probe" and "problem" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "probe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "problem" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #506,164 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "probe" and "problem" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "probe vs prude". 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 #506,164 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.