Which to use
“telepathic” is an adjective and “telepathy” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #38,195
- “telepathic” frequency rank
- #33,876
- “telepathy” frequency rank
- 72071
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | telepathic | telepathy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Of, relating to, or using telepathy. | The capability to communicate directly by psychic means; the sympathetic affection of one mind by the thoughts, feelings, or emotions of another at a distance, without communication through the ordinary channels of sensation. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set telepathic and telepathy apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: telepathic is /ˌtɛlɪˈpæθɪk/ while telepathy is /tɛˈlɛp.ə.θi/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72071, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
telepathic is recorded at frequency rank #38,195, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˌtɛlɪˈpæθɪk/. telepathy is at rank #33,876, tagged as anoun, pronounced /tɛˈlɛp.ə.θi/.
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 72071, this pair ranks #44,332 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of telepathic vs telepathy
Shared letters: aehlpt. Private to "telepathic": ci. Private to "telepathy": y.
"telepathic" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVCCVC · "telepathy" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- telepathic ← etlepathic · teelpathic · teleapthic · telepahtic · telepathci · telepathhic · telepathicc · telepatihc
- telepathy ← etlepathy · teelpathy · teleapthy · telepahty · telepathhy · telepathyy · telepatthy · telepatyh
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "telepathic" and "telepathy" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "telepathic" or "telepathy"?
Remembering telepathic vs telepathy
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “telepathic”; for a noun, it's “telepathy”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “telepathic” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable