Which to use
“agents” and “ages” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,711
- “agents” frequency rank
- #2,816
- “ages” frequency rank
- 5527
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | agents | ages |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of agent | plural of age |
Where the eye mixes agents and ages
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: agents vs ages
A purely visual mix-up. agents (/ˈeɪ.d͡ʒənts/) and ages (/ˈeɪ.d͡ʒɪz/) 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 5527, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
agents is recorded at frequency rank #2,711, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈeɪ.d͡ʒənts/. ages is at rank #2,816, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈeɪ.d͡ʒɪz/.
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 5527, this pair ranks #514,991 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of agents vs ages
Shared letters: aegs. Private to "agents": nt. Private to "ages": -.
"agents" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCC · "ages" · 4 letters · shape VCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "agents" for "ages" ever safe?
Which is more common, "agents" or "ages"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "agents" and "ages" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "agents" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ages" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #514,991 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "agents" and "ages" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ages vs aris". 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 #514,991 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.