sec vs seek, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“sec” is an adjective and “seek” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#19,268
“sec” frequency rank: #39,853
“seek” frequency rank: 59121
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	sec	seek
Definition	seco	procurar

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch

sec

4 ch

seek

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sec is \sɛk\ while seek is /siːk/, /sēk/. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59121, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sec is recorded at frequency rank #19,268, classified as anadj, pronounced \sɛk\. seek is at rank #39,853, tagged as averb, pronounced /siːk/, /sēk/.

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 59121, this pair ranks #8,352 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of sec vs seek

Shared letters: es. Private to "sec": c. Private to "seek": k.

"sec" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "seek" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

seek ← esek · seekk · sek · seke · sseek

Frequency comparison

sec#19,268

seek#39,853

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sec" and "seek" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sec" is an adjective and "seek" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "sec" or "seek"?

"sec" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,268 in our Portuguese list, against #39,853 for "seek". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering sec vs seek

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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