Which to use
“aches” and “apes” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,025
- “aches” frequency rank
- #15,951
- “apes” frequency rank
- 35976
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | aches | apes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of ache | plural of ape |
Where the eye mixes aches and apes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: aches vs apes
A purely visual mix-up. aches (/eɪks/) and apes (/eɪps/) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35976, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
aches is recorded at frequency rank #20,025, classified as anoun, pronounced /eɪks/. apes is at rank #15,951, tagged as anoun, pronounced /eɪps/.
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 35976, this pair ranks #307,286 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of aches vs apes
Shared letters: aes. Private to "aches": ch. Private to "apes": p.
"aches" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "apes" · 4 letters · shape VCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "aches" and "apes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "aches" vs "apes" - which ranks higher?
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 "aches" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "apes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #307,286 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "aches" and "apes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Aachen vs aches". 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 #307,286 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.