Which to use
“allude” and “alludes” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,500
- “allude” frequency rank
- #33,113
- “alludes” frequency rank
- 74613
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | allude | alludes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To refer to something indirectly or by suggestion; to invoke it by implication rather than mention. | third-person singular simple present indicative of allude |
Where the eye mixes allude and alludes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. allude runs 6 letters (VCCVCV) against alludes's 7 (VCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between allude and alludes
A purely visual mix-up. allude (/əˈljuːd/) and alludes (/əˈluːdz/) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “allude” sits inside “alludes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74613, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
allude is recorded at frequency rank #41,500, classified as averb, pronounced /əˈljuːd/. alludes is at rank #33,113, tagged as averb, pronounced /əˈluːdz/.
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 74613, this pair ranks #35,804 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of allude vs alludes
Shared letters: adelu. Private to "allude": -. Private to "alludes": s.
"allude" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV · "alludes" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "allude" and "alludes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "allude" or "alludes" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "allude" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "alludes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #35,804 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "allude" and "alludes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Allende vs allude". 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 #35,804 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.