acresvsactressWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“acres” and “actress” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#5,382
“acres” frequency rank
#3,273
“actress” frequency rank
8655
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature acres actress
Definition plural of acre A female who performs on the stage or in films.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set acres and actress apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
acres
7 ch
actress

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. acres (/ˈeɪ.kəz/) and actress (/ˈæk.tɹɪs/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8655, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

acres is recorded at frequency rank #5,382, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈeɪ.kəz/. actress is at rank #3,273, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈæk.tɹɪs/.

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 8655, this pair ranks #501,389 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of acres vs actress

Shared letters: acers. Private to "acres": -. Private to "actress": t.

"acres" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "actress" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • acresaccres · acers · acress · acrres · acrse
  • actressacctress · acrtess · acterss · actres · actrress · actrses · acttress · atcress

Frequency comparison

acres#5,382
actress#3,273

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "acres" and "actress" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈeɪ.kəz/ versus /ˈæk.tɹɪs/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "acres" or "actress"?
"actress" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,273 in our English list, against #5,382 for "acres". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering acres vs actress

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “acres” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list