addsvsaimsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#3,734
“adds” frequency rank
#5,004
“aims” frequency rank
8738
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature adds aims
Definition plural of add plural of aim

Where the eye mixes adds and aims

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
adds
4 ch
aims

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. adds (/æ(d)z/) and aims (/eɪmz/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8738, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

adds is recorded at frequency rank #3,734, classified as anoun, pronounced /æ(d)z/. aims is at rank #5,004, tagged as anoun, pronounced /eɪmz/.

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 8738, this pair ranks #500,975 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of adds vs aims

Shared letters: as. Private to "adds": d. Private to "aims": im.

"adds" · 4 letters · shape VCCC  ·  "aims" · 4 letters · shape VVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • addsaddss · adsd
  • aimsaimms · aimss · aism · iams

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "adds" and "aims" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/æ(d)z/ versus /eɪmz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "adds" or "aims"?
"adds" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,734 in our English list, against #5,004 for "aims". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list