Which to use
“ski” and “spy” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,840
- “ski” frequency rank
- #4,799
- “spy” frequency rank
- 10639
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ski | spy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | One of a pair of long flat runners designed for gliding over snow or water. | A person who secretly watches and examines the actions of other individuals or organizations and gathers information on them (usually to gain an advantage). |
Where the eye mixes ski and spy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ski with spy
A purely visual mix-up. ski (/skiː/) and spy (/spaɪ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10639, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ski is recorded at frequency rank #5,840, classified as anoun, pronounced /skiː/. spy is at rank #4,799, tagged as anoun, pronounced /spaɪ/.
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 10639, this pair ranks #491,291 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ski vs spy
Shared letters: s. Private to "ski": ik. Private to "spy": py.
"ski" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "spy" · 3 letters · shape CCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ski" for "spy" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ski" vs "spy" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ski" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "spy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #491,291 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ski" and "spy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sif vs ski". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #491,291 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.