Which to use
“topic” and “toxic” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,093
- “topic” frequency rank
- #4,807
- “toxic” frequency rank
- 7900
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | topic | toxic |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | topical | Having a chemical nature that is harmful to health or lethal if consumed or otherwise entering into the body in sufficient quantities. |
Where the eye mixes topic and toxic
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses topic with toxic
A purely visual mix-up. topic (/ˈtɒpɪk/) and toxic (/ˈtɒk.sɪk/) 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 - p in “topic” becomes x in “toxic”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7900, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
topic is recorded at frequency rank #3,093, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈtɒpɪk/. toxic is at rank #4,807, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈtɒk.sɪk/.
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 7900, this pair ranks #505,058 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of topic vs toxic
Shared letters: ciot. Private to "topic": p. Private to "toxic": x.
"topic" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "toxic" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "topic" for "toxic" ever safe?
Which is more common, "topic" or "toxic"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "topic" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "toxic" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #505,058 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "topic" and "toxic" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ToC vs toxic". 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 #505,058 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.