takervstamerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“taker” and “tamer” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#21,677
“taker” frequency rank
#40,045
“tamer” frequency rank
61722
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature taker tamer
Definition One who takes something. One who tames or subdues.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set taker and tamer apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
taker
5 ch
tamer

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. taker (/ˈteɪkɚ/) and tamer (/ˈteɪmɚ/) 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 a single letter - k in “taker” becomes m in “tamer”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61722, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

taker is recorded at frequency rank #21,677, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈteɪkɚ/. tamer is at rank #40,045, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈteɪmɚ/.

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 61722, this pair ranks #92,596 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of taker vs tamer

Shared letters: aert. Private to "taker": k. Private to "tamer": m.

"taker" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "tamer" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • takeratker · taekr · takerr · takker · takre · tkaer · ttaker
  • tameratmer · taemr · tamerr · tammer · tamre · tmaer · ttamer

Frequency comparison

taker#21,677
tamer#40,045

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "taker" and "tamer" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈteɪkɚ/ versus /ˈteɪmɚ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "taker" or "tamer"?
"taker" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,677 in our English list, against #40,045 for "tamer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering taker vs tamer

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “taker” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list