procurevsproduceWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“procure” and “produce” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#23,639
“procure” frequency rank
#1,733
“produce” frequency rank
25372
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature procure produce
Definition To acquire or obtain. To bring forth, to yield, make, manufacture, or otherwise generate.

Where the eye mixes procure and produce

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
procure
7 ch
produce

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. procure (/pɹəˈkjʊə/) and produce (/pɹəˈd͡ʒuːs/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25372, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

procure is recorded at frequency rank #23,639, classified as averb, pronounced /pɹəˈkjʊə/. produce is at rank #1,733, tagged as averb, pronounced /pɹəˈd͡ʒuːs/.

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 25372, this pair ranks #394,806 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of procure vs produce

Shared letters: ceopru. Private to "procure": -. Private to "produce": d.

"procure" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV  ·  "produce" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • procureporcure · pprocure · prcoure · proccure · procrue · procuer · procurre · proucre
  • produceporduce · pproduce · prdouce · prodcue · prodduce · producce · produec · proudce

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "procure" and "produce" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/pɹəˈkjʊə/ versus /pɹəˈd͡ʒuːs/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "procure" or "produce"?
"produce" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,733 in our English list, against #23,639 for "procure". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list