eye-word

eye-word (plural eye-words)

1. A word encountered more often in writing than in speech, and thus liable to be pronounced incorrectly.
   • 1908, Edward Kirby Putnam, Spelling Reform and Authority in Language: A Paper Read Before the Contemporary Club, Davenport, Iowa, December 26, 1907, page 7:

     We may hesitate whether "churl" is to be pronounced with a k or with a soft ch sound, because we do not use the word commonly in speech and hence it is becoming more of an eye-word than an ear-word.