Which to use
“ajar” is an adverb and “alas” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #48,584
- “ajar” frequency rank
- #11,647
- “alas” frequency rank
- 60231
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ajar | alas |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Slightly turned or opened. | Used to express sorrow, regret, compassion, grief, resignation, or disappointment. |
Where the eye mixes ajar and alas
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. ajar and alas follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses ajar with alas
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ajar is /əˈd͡ʒɑː/ while alas is /əˈlæs/. 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 (adverb vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60231, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ajar is recorded at frequency rank #48,584, classified as anadv, pronounced /əˈd͡ʒɑː/. alas is at rank #11,647, tagged as anintj, pronounced /əˈlæs/.
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 60231, this pair ranks #101,460 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ajar vs alas
Shared letters: a. Private to "ajar": jr. Private to "alas": ls.
"ajar" · 4 letters · shape VCVC · "alas" · 4 letters · shape VCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ajar" for "alas" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "ajar" or "alas" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "ajar" and "alas" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ajar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "alas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #101,460 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ajar" and "alas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ajar vs Amari". 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 #101,460 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.