promptvspropsWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: prompt is a adjective, props is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“prompt” is an adjective and “props” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#8,845
“prompt” frequency rank
#10,912
“props” frequency rank
19757
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature prompt props
Definition Quick; acting without delay. Respect for, or recognition of, another person; an expression of approval or a special acknowledgment; accolades; praise.

Letter map: prompt vs props

Shared letters muted; letters that set prompt and props apart highlighted. Shared run: 4. prompt runs 6 letters (CCVCCC) against props's 5 (CCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
prompt
5 ch
props

Grammar separator: prompt vs props

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: prompt is anadjective and propsanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19757, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

prompt is recorded at frequency rank #8,845, classified as anadj, pronounced /pɹɒmpt/. props is at rank #10,912, tagged as anoun.

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 19757, this pair ranks #435,952 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of prompt vs props

Shared letters: opr. Private to "prompt": mt. Private to "props": s.

"prompt" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC  ·  "props" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • prompt ← pormpt · pprompt · prmopt · prommpt · promppt · promptt · promtp · propmt
  • props ← porps · pprops · propps · propss · prosp · prpos · prrops · rpops

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "prompt" for "props" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "prompt" is an adjective and "props" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary English text, does "prompt" or "props" show up more?
"prompt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,845 in our English list, against #10,912 for "props". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pair "prompt" vs "props" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "prompt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "props" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #435,952 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "prompt" and "props" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "poops vs props". 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 #435,952 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list