yorkvsyukWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: york is a verb, yuk is an intj, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“york” is a verb and “yuk” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#429
“york” frequency rank
#41,484
“yuk” frequency rank
41913
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature york yuk
Definition to bowl a yorker at a batsman, especially to get a batsman out in this way. An exuberant laugh.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set york and yuk apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
york
3 ch
yuk

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: york is /jɔː(ɹ)k/ while yuk is /jʌk/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41913, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

york is recorded at frequency rank #429, classified as averb, pronounced /jɔː(ɹ)k/. yuk is at rank #41,484, tagged as anintj, pronounced /jʌk/.

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 41913, this pair ranks #253,999 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of york vs yuk

Shared letters: ky. Private to "york": or. Private to "yuk": u.

"york" · 4 letters · shape VVCC  ·  "yuk" · 3 letters · shape VVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • yorkoyrk · yokr · yorkk · yorrk · yrok · yyork

Frequency comparison

york#429
yuk#41,484

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "york" and "yuk" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "york" is a verb and "yuk" an intj, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "york" or "yuk"?
"york" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #429 in our English list, against #41,484 for "yuk". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering york vs yuk

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “york”; for an intj, it's “yuk”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “york” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list