Which to use
“achieves” is a verb and “Achilles” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,745
- “achieves” frequency rank
- #15,559
- “Achilles” frequency rank
- 34304
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | achieves | Achilles |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | third-person singular simple present indicative of achieve | A mythical semidivine hero, the son of Peleus by the nereid Thetis, and prince of the Myrmidons, who features in the Iliad as a central character and the foremost warrior of the Achaean (Greek) camp. |
Where the eye mixes achieves and Achilles
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses achieves with Achilles
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: achieves is /əˈt͡ʃiːvz/ while Achilles is /əˈkɪliːz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34304, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
achieves is recorded at frequency rank #18,745, classified as averb, pronounced /əˈt͡ʃiːvz/. Achilles is at rank #15,559, tagged as aname, pronounced /əˈkɪliːz/.
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 34304, this pair ranks #321,961 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of achieves vs Achilles
Shared letters: acehis. Private to "achieves": v. Private to "Achilles": l.
"achieves" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC · "Achilles" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "achieves" for "Achilles" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "achieves" or "Achilles" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "achieves" and "Achilles" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "achieves" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Achilles" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #321,961 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "achieves" and "Achilles" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Achilles vs Antilles". 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 #321,961 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.