Which to use
“amicus” and “animus” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,677
- “amicus” frequency rank
- #41,505
- “animus” frequency rank
- 81182
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | amicus | animus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Someone not a party to a case who submits a brief and/or presents oral argument in that case. | The basic impulses and instincts which govern one's actions. |
Where the eye mixes amicus and animus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: amicus vs animus
A purely visual mix-up. amicus (/ˈæm.ɪ.kəs/) and animus (/ˈæ.nɪ.məs/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81182, 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/. animus is at rank #41,505, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈæ.nɪ.məs/.
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 81182, this pair ranks #18,212 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of amicus vs animus
Shared letters: aimsu. Private to "amicus": c. Private to "animus": n.
"amicus" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC · "animus" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "amicus" for "animus" ever safe?
Which is more common, "amicus" or "animus"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "amicus" and "animus" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "amicus" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "animus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #18,212 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "amicus" and "animus" 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 #18,212 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.