Which to use
“amicus” is a noun and “amiss” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #39,677
- “amicus” frequency rank
- #31,430
- “amiss” frequency rank
- 71107
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | amicus | amiss |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Someone not a party to a case who submits a brief and/or presents oral argument in that case. | Wrong; faulty; out of order; improper or otherwise incorrect. |
Where the eye mixes amicus and amiss
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between amicus and amiss
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: amicus is /ˈæm.ɪ.kəs/ while amiss is /əˈmɪs/. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71107, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
amicus is recorded at frequency rank #39,677, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈæm.ɪ.kəs/. amiss is at rank #31,430, tagged as anadj, pronounced /əˈmɪs/.
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 71107, this pair ranks #47,957 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of amicus vs amiss
Shared letters: aims. Private to "amicus": cu. Private to "amiss": -.
"amicus" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC · "amiss" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "amicus" and "amiss" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "amicus" or "amiss" 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 "amicus" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "amiss" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #47,957 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "amicus" and "amiss" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abacus vs amicus". 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 #47,957 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.