peakvspeckWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“peak” and “peck” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#36,150
“peak” frequency rank
#31,091
“peck” frequency rank
67241
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature peak peck
Definition pico bicada

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set peak and peck apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
peak
4 ch
peck

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. peak (/pi:k/) and peck (/pɛk/) 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 a single letter - a in “peak” becomes c in “peck”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67241, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

peak is recorded at frequency rank #36,150, classified as anoun, pronounced /pi:k/. peck is at rank #31,091, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pɛk/.

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 67241, this pair ranks #4,708 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of peak vs peck

Shared letters: ekp. Private to "peak": a. Private to "peck": c.

"peak" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "peck" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • peakepak · paek · peakk · peka · ppeak
  • peckepck · pcek · pecck · peckk · pekc · ppeck

Frequency comparison

peak#36,150
peck#31,091

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "peak" and "peck" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/pi:k/ versus /pɛk/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "peak" or "peck"?
"peck" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,091 in our Portuguese list, against #36,150 for "peak". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering peak vs peck

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 “peak” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list