Which to use
“sample” and “sampler” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,859
- “sample” frequency rank
- #25,561
- “sampler” frequency rank
- 28420
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sample | sampler |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A part or snippet of something taken or presented for inspection, or shown as evidence of the quality of the whole; a specimen. | A piece of needlework embroidered with a variety of designs. |
Where the eye mixes sample and sampler
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses sample with sampler
A purely visual mix-up. sample (/ˈsɑːm.pəl/) and sampler (/ˈsæmplɚ/) 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 extra letter(s) - “sample” sits inside “sampler”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28420, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sample is recorded at frequency rank #2,859, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈsɑːm.pəl/. sampler is at rank #25,561, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈsæmplɚ/.
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 28420, this pair ranks #371,203 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sample vs sampler
Shared letters: aelmps. Private to "sample": -. Private to "sampler": r.
"sample" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "sampler" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "sample" and "sampler" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "sample" or "sampler"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "sample" and "sampler" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "sample" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sampler" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #371,203 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sample" and "sampler" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sameer vs sampler". 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 #371,203 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.