Which to use
“prod” and “pry” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,030
- “prod” frequency rank
- #26,212
- “pry” frequency rank
- 47242
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | prod | pry |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To poke, to push, to touch. | To peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public. |
Where the eye mixes prod and pry
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between prod and pry
A purely visual mix-up. prod (/pɹɒd/) and pry (/pɹaɪ/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47242, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
prod is recorded at frequency rank #21,030, classified as averb, pronounced /pɹɒd/. pry is at rank #26,212, tagged as averb, pronounced /pɹaɪ/.
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 47242, this pair ranks #204,256 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of prod vs pry
Shared letters: pr. Private to "prod": do. Private to "pry": y.
"prod" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "pry" · 3 letters · shape CCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- prod ← pord · pprod · prdo · prodd · prrod · rpod
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "prod" and "pry" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "prod" or "pry" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "prod" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pry" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #204,256 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "prod" and "pry" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "PPA vs pry". 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 #204,256 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.