Which to use
“adds” and “ass” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,734
- “adds” frequency rank
- #1,065
- “ass” frequency rank
- 4799
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | adds | ass |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of add | Any of several species of horse-like animals, especially Equus asinus, the domesticated of which are used as beasts of burden. |
Where the eye mixes adds and ass
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: adds vs ass
A purely visual mix-up. adds (/æ(d)z/) and ass (/æs/) 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 4799, 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/. ass is at rank #1,065, tagged as anoun, pronounced /æs/.
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 4799, this pair ranks #517,632 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of adds vs ass
Shared letters: as. Private to "adds": d. Private to "ass": -.
"adds" · 4 letters · shape VCCC · "ass" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- adds ← addss · adsd
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "adds" and "ass" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "adds" or "ass"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "adds" and "ass" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "adds" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ass" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #517,632 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "adds" and "ass" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "adds vs Ando". 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 #517,632 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.