Which to use
“ailment” is a noun and “augment” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #29,533
- “ailment” frequency rank
- #22,577
- “augment” frequency rank
- 52110
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ailment | augment |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Something which ails one; a disease; sickness. | To increase; to make larger or supplement. |
Where the eye mixes ailment and augment
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between ailment and augment
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ailment is /ˈeɪlmənt/ while augment is /ɔːɡˈmɛnt/. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52110, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ailment is recorded at frequency rank #29,533, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈeɪlmənt/. augment is at rank #22,577, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɔːɡˈmɛnt/.
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 52110, this pair ranks #159,778 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ailment vs augment
Shared letters: aemnt. Private to "ailment": il. Private to "augment": gu.
"ailment" · 7 letters · shape VVCCVCC · "augment" · 7 letters · shape VVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ailment" and "augment" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "ailment" vs "augment" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ailment" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "augment" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #159,778 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ailment" and "augment" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Aileen vs ailment". 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 #159,778 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.