Which to use
“accuse” and “accuses” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,975
- “accuse” frequency rank
- #16,631
- “accuses” frequency rank
- 27606
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | accuse | accuses |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To find fault with, blame, censure. | third-person singular simple present indicative of accuse |
Where the eye mixes accuse and accuses
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: accuse vs accuses
A purely visual mix-up. accuse (/əˈkjuːz/) and accuses (/əˈkjuːzɪz/) 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) - “accuse” sits inside “accuses”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27606, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
accuse is recorded at frequency rank #10,975, classified as averb, pronounced /əˈkjuːz/. accuses is at rank #16,631, tagged as averb, pronounced /əˈkjuːzɪz/.
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 27606, this pair ranks #377,596 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of accuse vs accuses
Shared letters: acesu. Private to "accuse": -. Private to "accuses": -.
"accuse" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV · "accuses" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "accuse" and "accuses" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "accuse" or "accuses" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "accuse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "accuses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #377,596 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "accuse" and "accuses" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "accuses vs amuses". 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 #377,596 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.