Which to use
“spite” and “sprite” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,741
- “spite” frequency rank
- #22,824
- “sprite” frequency rank
- 29565
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spite | sprite |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ill will or hatred toward another, accompanied with the desire to unjustifiably irritate, annoy, or thwart; a want to disturb or put out another; mild malice | Any of various supernatural beings, loosely defined: |
Where the eye mixes spite and sprite
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: spite vs sprite
A purely visual mix-up. spite (/spaɪt/) and sprite (/spɹaɪt/) 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 29565, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
spite is recorded at frequency rank #6,741, classified as anoun, pronounced /spaɪt/. sprite is at rank #22,824, tagged as anoun, pronounced /spɹaɪt/.
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 29565, this pair ranks #361,927 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of spite vs sprite
Shared letters: eipst. Private to "spite": -. Private to "sprite": r.
"spite" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "sprite" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "spite" for "sprite" ever safe?
Frequency check: "spite" vs "sprite" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "spite" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sprite" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #361,927 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "spite" and "sprite" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "serine vs sprite". 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 #361,927 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.