annexvsapexWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“annex” and “apex” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#14,883
“annex” frequency rank
#10,981
“apex” frequency rank
25864
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature annex apex
Definition An addition, an extension. The highest or the greatest part of something, especially forming a point.

Where the eye mixes annex and apex

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
annex
4 ch
apex

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. annex (/ˈænɛks/) and apex (/ˈeɪ.pɛks/) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25864, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

annex is recorded at frequency rank #14,883, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈænɛks/. apex is at rank #10,981, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈeɪ.pɛks/.

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 25864, this pair ranks #391,062 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of annex vs apex

Shared letters: aex. Private to "annex": n. Private to "apex": p.

"annex" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "apex" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • annexanenx · anex · annexx · annxe · nanex
  • apexaepx · apexx · appex · apxe · paex

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "annex" and "apex" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈænɛks/ versus /ˈeɪ.pɛks/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "annex" or "apex"?
"apex" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,981 in our English list, against #14,883 for "annex". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list