Which to use
“seal” and “sec” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,331
- “seal” frequency rank
- #4,268
- “sec” frequency rank
- 8599
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | seal | sec |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A pinniped (Pinnipedia), particularly an earless seal (true seal) or eared seal. | Second, ¹⁄₆₀ of a minute. |
Where the eye mixes seal and sec
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses seal with sec
A purely visual mix-up. seal (/siːl/) and sec (/sɛk/) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8599, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
seal is recorded at frequency rank #4,331, classified as anoun, pronounced /siːl/. sec is at rank #4,268, tagged as anoun, pronounced /sɛk/.
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 8599, this pair ranks #501,696 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of seal vs sec
Shared letters: es. Private to "seal": al. Private to "sec": c.
"seal" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "sec" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- seal ← esal · seall · sela · sseal
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "seal" and "sec" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "seal" vs "sec" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "seal" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sec" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #501,696 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "seal" and "sec" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sec vs Sif". 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 #501,696 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.