Which to use
“sluice” and “source” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #45,666
- “sluice” frequency rank
- #743
- “source” frequency rank
- 46409
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sluice | source |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An artificial passage for water, fitted with a valve or gate, for example in a canal lock or a mill stream, for stopping or regulating the flow. | The person, place, or thing from which something (information, goods, etc.) comes or is acquired. |
Where the eye mixes sluice and source
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses sluice with source
A purely visual mix-up. sluice (/sluːs/) and source (/sɔːs/) 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 46409, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sluice is recorded at frequency rank #45,666, classified as anoun, pronounced /sluːs/. source is at rank #743, tagged as anoun, pronounced /sɔːs/.
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 46409, this pair ranks #212,016 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sluice vs source
Shared letters: cesu. Private to "sluice": il. Private to "source": or.
"sluice" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV · "source" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sluice" for "source" ever safe?
Frequency check: "sluice" vs "source" - 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 "sluice" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "source" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #212,016 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sluice" and "source" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sluice vs splice". 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 #212,016 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.