Which to use
“arse” and “asses” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,462
- “arse” frequency rank
- #9,699
- “asses” frequency rank
- 23161
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | arse | asses |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A person's buttocks; the bottom, the backside. Also: the anus; the rectum. | plural of ass |
Where the eye mixes arse and asses
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between arse and asses
A purely visual mix-up. arse (/ɑːs/) and asses (/ˈæsɪz/) 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 23161, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
arse is recorded at frequency rank #13,462, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɑːs/. asses is at rank #9,699, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈæsɪz/.
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 23161, this pair ranks #411,316 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of arse vs asses
Shared letters: aes. Private to "arse": r. Private to "asses": -.
"arse" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "asses" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "arse" and "asses" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "arse" or "asses"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "arse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "asses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #411,316 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "arse" and "asses" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "arco vs arse". 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 #411,316 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.