Which to use
“abuse” and “abuses” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,190
- “abuse” frequency rank
- #11,332
- “abuses” frequency rank
- 13522
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abuse | abuses |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Improper treatment or usage; application to a wrong or bad purpose; an unjust, corrupt or wrongful practice or custom. | plural of abuse |
Where the eye mixes abuse and abuses
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses abuse with abuses
A purely visual mix-up. abuse (/əˈbjuːs/) and abuses (/əˈbjuːsɪz/) 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) - “abuse” sits inside “abuses”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13522, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
abuse is recorded at frequency rank #2,190, classified as anoun, pronounced /əˈbjuːs/. abuses is at rank #11,332, tagged as anoun, pronounced /əˈbjuːsɪz/.
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 13522, this pair ranks #475,321 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of abuse vs abuses
Shared letters: abesu. Private to "abuse": -. Private to "abuses": -.
"abuse" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "abuses" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "abuse" and "abuses" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "abuse" or "abuses"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "abuse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "abuses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #475,321 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abuse" and "abuses" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abides vs abuses". 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 #475,321 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.