Which to use
“yard” and “yore” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,654
- “yard” frequency rank
- #45,179
- “yore” frequency rank
- 47833
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | yard | yore |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A small, usually uncultivated area adjoining or (now especially) within the precincts of a house or other building. | A time long past. |
Where the eye mixes yard and yore
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. yard (VVCC) and yore (VVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses yard with yore
A purely visual mix-up. yard (/jɑːd/) and yore (/jɔː/) 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 47833, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
yard is recorded at frequency rank #2,654, classified as anoun, pronounced /jɑːd/. yore is at rank #45,179, tagged as anoun, pronounced /jɔː/.
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 47833, this pair ranks #198,777 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of yard vs yore
Shared letters: ry. Private to "yard": ad. Private to "yore": eo.
"yard" · 4 letters · shape VVCC · "yore" · 4 letters · shape VVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "yard" for "yore" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "yard" or "yore" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "yard" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "yore" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #198,777 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "yard" and "yore" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "yore vs yoyo". 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 #198,777 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.