variety vs verity, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“variety” and “verity” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,846
“variety” frequency rank: #36,390
“verity” frequency rank: 38236
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	variety	verity
Definition	A deviation or difference.	Truth, fact or reality, especially an enduring religious or ethical truth; veracity.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set variety and verity apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch

variety

6 ch

verity

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. variety (/vəˈɹaɪ.ɪ.ti/) and verity (/ˈvɛɹɪti/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38236, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

variety is recorded at frequency rank #1,846, classified as anoun, pronounced /vəˈɹaɪ.ɪ.ti/. verity is at rank #36,390, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈvɛɹɪti/.

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 38236, this pair ranks #287,700 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of variety vs verity

Shared letters: eirtvy. Private to "variety": a. Private to "verity": -.

"variety" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV · "verity" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

variety ← avriety · vairety · vareity · varietty · varietyy · varieyt · varitey · varriety
verity ← evrity · veirty · veritty · verityy · veriyt · verrity · vertiy · vreity

Frequency comparison

variety#1,846

verity#36,390

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "variety" and "verity" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/vəˈɹaɪ.ɪ.ti/ versus /ˈvɛɹɪti/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "variety" or "verity"?

"variety" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,846 in our English list, against #36,390 for "verity". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering variety vs verity

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “variety” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable