Which to use
“teaser” and “tenses” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,716
- “teaser” frequency rank
- #43,957
- “tenses” frequency rank
- 59673
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | teaser | tenses |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | One who teases or pokes fun. | plural of tense |
Where the eye mixes teaser and tenses
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. teaser (CVVCVC) and tenses (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses teaser with tenses
A purely visual mix-up. teaser (/ˈtiːzɚ/) and tenses (/tɛnsɪz/) 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 59673, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
teaser is recorded at frequency rank #15,716, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈtiːzɚ/. tenses is at rank #43,957, tagged as anoun, pronounced /tɛnsɪz/.
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 59673, this pair ranks #104,744 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of teaser vs tenses
Shared letters: est. Private to "teaser": ar. Private to "tenses": n.
"teaser" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "tenses" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "teaser" and "tenses" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "teaser" or "tenses"?
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 "teaser" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tenses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #104,744 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "teaser" and "tenses" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tenner vs tenses". 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 #104,744 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.