Which to use
“animus” and “anus” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,505
- “animus” frequency rank
- #20,835
- “anus” frequency rank
- 62340
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | animus | anus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The basic impulses and instincts which govern one's actions. | The external orifice of the rectum in most mammals, teleost fish, and many invertebrates, through which feces and flatus are ejected. |
Where the eye mixes animus and anus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: animus vs anus
A purely visual mix-up. animus (/ˈæ.nɪ.məs/) and anus (/ˈeɪ.nəs/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62340, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
animus is recorded at frequency rank #41,505, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈæ.nɪ.məs/. anus is at rank #20,835, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈeɪ.nəs/.
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 62340, this pair ranks #89,052 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of animus vs anus
Shared letters: ansu. Private to "animus": im. Private to "anus": -.
"animus" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC · "anus" · 4 letters · shape VCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "animus" and "anus" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "animus" or "anus"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "animus" and "anus" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "animus" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "anus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #89,052 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "animus" and "anus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "amicus vs animus". 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 #89,052 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.