Which to use
“scarce” is an adjective and “source” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,856
- “scarce” frequency rank
- #743
- “source” frequency rank
- 13599
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | scarce | source |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Uncommon, rare; difficult to find; insufficient to meet a demand. | The person, place, or thing from which something (information, goods, etc.) comes or is acquired. |
Where the eye mixes scarce and source
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between scarce and source
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: scarce is /ˈskɛəs/ while source is /sɔːs/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13599, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
scarce is recorded at frequency rank #12,856, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈskɛəs/. source is at rank #743, tagged as anoun, pronounced /sɔːs/.
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 13599, this pair ranks #474,853 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of scarce vs source
Shared letters: cers. Private to "scarce": a. Private to "source": ou.
"scarce" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV · "source" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "scarce" for "source" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "scarce" or "source" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "scarce" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "source" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #474,853 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "scarce" and "source" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "scarce vs scorch". 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 #474,853 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.