Which to use
“sear” is an adjective and “sex” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #41,374
- “sear” frequency rank
- #611
- “sex” frequency rank
- 41985
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sear | sex |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dry; withered, especially of vegetation. | A category into which sexually-reproducing organisms are divided on the basis of their reproductive roles in their species; the system of such categories, which can differ by organism or by taxonomic branch. |
Where the eye mixes sear and sex
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: sear vs sex
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sear is /sɪɚ/ while sex is /sɛks/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41985, 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/. sex is at rank #611, tagged as anoun, pronounced /sɛks/.
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 41985, this pair ranks #253,334 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sear vs sex
Shared letters: es. Private to "sear": ar. Private to "sex": x.
"sear" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "sex" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- sear ← esar · saer · searr · ssear
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sear" for "sex" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "sear" or "sex" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "sear" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sex" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #253,334 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sear" and "sex" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Seager vs sear". 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 #253,334 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.