seepvssezWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“seep” and “sez” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#37,680
“seep” frequency rank
#49,041
“sez” frequency rank
86721
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature seep sez
Definition To ooze or pass slowly through pores or other small openings, and in overly small quantities; said of liquids, etc. Eye dialect spelling of says.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set seep and sez apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
seep
3 ch
sez

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. seep (/siːp/) and sez (/sɛz/) 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 86721, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

seep is recorded at frequency rank #37,680, classified as averb, pronounced /siːp/. sez is at rank #49,041, tagged as averb, pronounced /sɛz/.

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 86721, this pair ranks #8,590 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of seep vs sez

Shared letters: es. Private to "seep": p. Private to "sez": z.

"seep" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "sez" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • seepesep · seepp · sepe · sseep

Frequency comparison

seep#37,680
sez#49,041

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "seep" and "sez" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/siːp/ versus /sɛz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "seep" or "sez"?
"seep" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #37,680 in our English list, against #49,041 for "sez". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering seep vs sez

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “seep” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list