Which to use
“prophecy” is a noun and “prophesy” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,093
- “prophecy” frequency rank
- #43,859
- “prophesy” frequency rank
- 54952
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | prophecy | prophesy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A prediction, especially one made by a prophet or under divine inspiration. | To speak or write with divine inspiration; to act as prophet. |
Where the eye mixes prophecy and prophesy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. prophecy and prophesy follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses prophecy with prophesy
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: prophecy is /ˈpɹɒfɪsi/ while prophesy is /ˈpɹɒfɪsaɪ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - c in “prophecy” becomes s in “prophesy”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54952, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
prophecy is recorded at frequency rank #11,093, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɹɒfɪsi/. prophesy is at rank #43,859, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈpɹɒfɪsaɪ/.
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 54952, this pair ranks #137,238 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of prophecy vs prophesy
Shared letters: ehopry. Private to "prophecy": c. Private to "prophesy": s.
"prophecy" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCV · "prophesy" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "prophecy" and "prophesy" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "prophecy" vs "prophesy" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "prophecy" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "prophesy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #137,238 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "prophecy" and "prophesy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "prophesy vs prophets". 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 #137,238 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.