Which to use
“skim” is a verb and “skimpy” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23,397
- “skim” frequency rank
- #39,092
- “skimpy” frequency rank
- 62489
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | skim | skimpy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To pass lightly; to glide along in an even, smooth course; to glide along near the surface. | Small or inadequate; not generous; diminutive. |
Where the eye mixes skim and skimpy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. skim runs 4 letters (CCVC) against skimpy's 6 (CCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: skim vs skimpy
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: skim is /skɪm/ while skimpy is /ˈskɪmpi/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “skim” sits inside “skimpy”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62489, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
skim is recorded at frequency rank #23,397, classified as averb, pronounced /skɪm/. skimpy is at rank #39,092, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈskɪmpi/.
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 62489, this pair ranks #88,228 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of skim vs skimpy
Shared letters: ikms. Private to "skim": -. Private to "skimpy": py.
"skim" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "skimpy" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "skim" and "skimpy" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "skim" or "skimpy" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "skim" and "skimpy" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "skim" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "skimpy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #88,228 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "skim" and "skimpy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "shimmy vs skimpy". 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 #88,228 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.