Which to use
“robber” and “robe” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,462
- “robber” frequency rank
- #14,626
- “robe” frequency rank
- 32088
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | robber | robe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A person who robs. | A long loose outer garment, often signifying honorary stature. |
Where the eye mixes robber and robe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses robber with robe
A purely visual mix-up. robber (/ˈɹɒb.ə(ɹ)/) and robe (/ɹəʊb/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32088, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
robber is recorded at frequency rank #17,462, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɹɒb.ə(ɹ)/. robe is at rank #14,626, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɹəʊb/.
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 32088, this pair ranks #340,720 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of robber vs robe
Shared letters: beor. Private to "robber": -. Private to "robe": -.
"robber" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "robe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "robber" and "robe" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "robber" vs "robe" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "robber" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "robe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #340,720 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "robber" and "robe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "robe vs roque". 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 #340,720 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.