Which to use
“ache” is a verb and “agh” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #16,397
- “ache” frequency rank
- #44,044
- “agh” frequency rank
- 60441
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ache | agh |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To suffer pain; to be the source of, or be in, pain, especially continued dull pain; to be distressed. | An exclamation of mild horror, disgust or frustration |
Where the eye mixes ache and agh
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. ache runs 4 letters (VCCV) against agh's 3 (VCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: ache vs agh
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ache is /ˈeɪk/ while agh is [æː(x)]. 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 (verb vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60441, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ache is recorded at frequency rank #16,397, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈeɪk/. agh is at rank #44,044, tagged as anintj, pronounced [æː(x)].
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 60441, this pair ranks #100,185 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ache vs agh
Shared letters: ah. Private to "ache": ce. Private to "agh": g.
"ache" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "agh" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- ache ← achhe · ahce · cahe
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ache" and "agh" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "ache" or "agh" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "ache" and "agh" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ache" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "agh" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #100,185 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ache" and "agh" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "agh vs amb". 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 #100,185 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.