Which to use
“trick” and “truce” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,145
- “trick” frequency rank
- #14,654
- “truce” frequency rank
- 17799
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | trick | truce |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Something designed to fool, dupe, outsmart, mislead or swindle. | A period of time in which no fighting takes place due to an agreement between the opposed parties. |
Where the eye mixes trick and truce
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between trick and truce
A purely visual mix-up. trick (/tɹɪk/) and truce (/tɹuːs/) 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 17799, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
trick is recorded at frequency rank #3,145, classified as anoun, pronounced /tɹɪk/. truce is at rank #14,654, tagged as anoun, pronounced /tɹuːs/.
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 17799, this pair ranks #449,043 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of trick vs truce
Shared letters: crt. Private to "trick": ik. Private to "truce": eu.
"trick" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "truce" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "trick" for "truce" ever safe?
Frequency check: "trick" vs "truce" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "trick" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "truce" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #449,043 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "trick" and "truce" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Thule vs truce". 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 #449,043 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.