pubvspyeWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#4,880
“pub” frequency rank
#46,714
“pye” frequency rank
51594
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pub pye
Definition A public house where beverages, primarily alcoholic, may be bought and consumed, also providing food and sometimes entertainment such as live music or television. Archaic spelling of pie (pastry food).

Letter map: pub vs pye

Shared letters muted; letters that set pub and pye apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
pub
3 ch
pye

Spelling & dictionary notes on pub vs pye

pub and pye are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51594, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pub is recorded at frequency rank #4,880, classified as anoun, pronounced /pʌb/. pye is at rank #46,714, 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 51594, this pair ranks #164,168 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pub vs pye

Shared letters: p. Private to "pub": bu. Private to "pye": ey.

"pub" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "pye" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pub" for "pye" ever safe?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
In ordinary English text, does "pub" or "pye" show up more?
"pub" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,880 in our English list, against #46,714 for "pye". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pair "pub" vs "pye" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pub" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pye" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #164,168 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pub" and "pye" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "PPA vs pye". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #164,168 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