Which to use
“allege” is a verb and “alleys” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #22,884
- “allege” frequency rank
- #26,672
- “alleys” frequency rank
- 49556
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | allege | alleys |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To state under oath, to plead. | plural of alley |
Where the eye mixes allege and alleys
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. allege (VCCVCV) and alleys (VCCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between allege and alleys
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: allege is /əˈlɛd͡ʒ/ while alleys is /ˈæ.liz/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49556, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
allege is recorded at frequency rank #22,884, classified as averb, pronounced /əˈlɛd͡ʒ/. alleys is at rank #26,672, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈæ.liz/.
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 49556, this pair ranks #182,493 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of allege vs alleys
Shared letters: ael. Private to "allege": g. Private to "alleys": sy.
"allege" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV · "alleys" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "allege" for "alleys" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "allege" or "alleys" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "allege" and "alleys" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "allege" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "alleys" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #182,493 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "allege" and "alleys" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "allege vs Allegra". 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 #182,493 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.