Which to use
“alas” is an intj and “alway” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,647
- “alas” frequency rank
- #47,460
- “alway” frequency rank
- 59107
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | alas | alway |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Used to express sorrow, regret, compassion, grief, resignation, or disappointment. | Alternative form of always. |
Where the eye mixes alas and alway
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. alas runs 4 letters (VCVC) against alway's 5 (VCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between alas and alway
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: alas is /əˈlæs/ while alway is /ˈɔːl.weɪ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (intj vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59107, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
alas is recorded at frequency rank #11,647, classified as anintj, pronounced /əˈlæs/. alway is at rank #47,460, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈɔːl.weɪ/.
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 59107, this pair ranks #108,268 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of alas vs alway
Shared letters: al. Private to "alas": s. Private to "alway": wy.
"alas" · 4 letters · shape VCVC · "alway" · 5 letters · shape VCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "alas" for "alway" ever safe?
Which is more common, "alas" or "alway"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "alas" and "alway" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "alas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "alway" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #108,268 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "alas" and "alway" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Almaty vs alway". 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 #108,268 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.