Which to use
“amongst” is a preposition and “angst” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,206
- “amongst” frequency rank
- #20,553
- “angst” frequency rank
- 24759
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | amongst | angst |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Denotes a mingling or intermixing with distinct or separable objects. See usage note at amidst. | Emotional turmoil; painful sadness; anguish. |
Where the eye mixes amongst and angst
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: amongst vs angst
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: amongst is /əˈmʌŋst/ while angst is /ˈæŋ(k)st/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24759, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
amongst is recorded at frequency rank #4,206, classified as aprep, pronounced /əˈmʌŋst/. angst is at rank #20,553, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈæŋ(k)st/.
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 24759, this pair ranks #399,530 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of amongst vs angst
Shared letters: agnst. Private to "amongst": mo. Private to "angst": -.
"amongst" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCCC · "angst" · 5 letters · shape VCCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "amongst" for "angst" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "amongst" or "angst" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "amongst" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "angst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #399,530 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "amongst" and "angst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aight vs angst". 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 #399,530 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.