Which to use
“sear” is an adjective and “seek” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #41,374
- “sear” frequency rank
- #2,462
- “seek” frequency rank
- 43836
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sear | seek |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dry; withered, especially of vegetation. | To try to find; to look for; to search for. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set sear and seek apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
sear and seek form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43836, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sear is recorded at frequency rank #41,374, classified as anadj, pronounced /sɪɚ/. seek is at rank #2,462, tagged as averb, pronounced /siːk/.
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 43836, this pair ranks #236,237 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "sear" and "seek" be used interchangeably?
Remembering sear vs seek
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “sear”; for a verb, it's “seek”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “sear” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable