Which to use
“tabby” and “tabor” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,725
- “tabby” frequency rank
- #38,191
- “tabor” frequency rank
- 75916
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tabby | tabor |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A kind of waved silk, usually called watered silk, manufactured like taffeta, but thicker and stronger. The watering is given to it by calendering. | A small drum. |
Where the eye mixes tabby and tabor
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. tabby (CVCCV) and tabor (CVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses tabby with tabor
A purely visual mix-up. tabby (/ˈtæb.i/) and tabor (/ˈteɪbə(ɹ)/) 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 75916, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tabby is recorded at frequency rank #37,725, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈtæb.i/. tabor is at rank #38,191, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈteɪbə(ɹ)/.
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 75916, this pair ranks #31,671 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of tabby vs tabor
Shared letters: abt. Private to "tabby": y. Private to "tabor": or.
"tabby" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "tabor" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tabby" for "tabor" ever safe?
Frequency check: "tabby" vs "tabor" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "tabby" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tabor" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #31,671 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tabby" and "tabor" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tabor vs Tiber". 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 #31,671 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.