Which to use
“week” and “weir” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #251
- “week” frequency rank
- #14,670
- “weir” frequency rank
- 14921
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | week | weir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Any period of seven consecutive days. | An adjustable dam placed across a river to regulate the flow of water downstream. |
Where the eye mixes week and weir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses week with weir
A purely visual mix-up. week (/wiːk/) and weir (/wɪə̯/) 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 14921, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
week is recorded at frequency rank #251, classified as anoun, pronounced /wiːk/. weir is at rank #14,670, tagged as anoun, pronounced /wɪə̯/.
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 14921, this pair ranks #467,135 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of week vs weir
Shared letters: ew. Private to "week": k. Private to "weir": ir.
"week" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "weir" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "week" for "weir" ever safe?
Which is more common, "week" or "weir"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "week" and "weir" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "week" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "weir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #467,135 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "week" and "weir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "weir vs werk". 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 #467,135 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.