Which to use
“tempt” is a verb and “text” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #21,957
- “tempt” frequency rank
- #1,062
- “text” frequency rank
- 23019
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tempt | text |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To provoke someone to do wrong, especially by promising a reward; to entice. | A writing consisting of multiple glyphs, characters, symbols or sentences. |
Where the eye mixes tempt and text
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. tempt runs 5 letters (CVCCC) against text's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between tempt and text
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tempt is /tɛmpt/ while text is /tɛkst/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23019, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tempt is recorded at frequency rank #21,957, classified as averb, pronounced /tɛmpt/. text is at rank #1,062, tagged as anoun, pronounced /tɛkst/.
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 23019, this pair ranks #412,320 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of tempt vs text
Shared letters: et. Private to "tempt": mp. Private to "text": x.
"tempt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "text" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tempt" for "text" ever safe?
Which is more common, "tempt" or "text"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "tempt" and "text" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "tempt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "text" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #412,320 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tempt" and "text" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tempt vs tet". 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 #412,320 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.