Which to use
“abide” and “abides” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,084
- “abide” frequency rank
- #49,748
- “abides” frequency rank
- 62832
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abide | abides |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To endure without yielding; to withstand. | third-person singular simple present indicative of abide |
Where the eye mixes abide and abides
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses abide with abides
A purely visual mix-up. abide (/əˈbaɪd/) and abides (/əˈbaɪds/) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “abide” sits inside “abides”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62832, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
abide is recorded at frequency rank #13,084, classified as averb, pronounced /əˈbaɪd/. abides is at rank #49,748, tagged as averb, pronounced /əˈbaɪds/.
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 62832, this pair ranks #86,298 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of abide vs abides
Shared letters: abdei. Private to "abide": -. Private to "abides": s.
"abide" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "abides" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "abide" for "abides" ever safe?
Which is more common, "abide" or "abides"?
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 "abide" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "abides" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #86,298 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abide" and "abides" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abides vs asides". 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 #86,298 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.