Which to use
“ashes” and “asses” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,883
- “ashes” frequency rank
- #9,699
- “asses” frequency rank
- 17582
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ashes | asses |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of ash | plural of ass |
Where the eye mixes ashes and asses
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between ashes and asses
A purely visual mix-up. ashes (/ˈæʃ.ɪz/) 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 a single letter - h in “ashes” becomes s in “asses”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17582, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ashes is recorded at frequency rank #7,883, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈæʃ.ɪz/. 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 17582, this pair ranks #450,450 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ashes vs asses
Shared letters: aes. Private to "ashes": h. Private to "asses": -.
"ashes" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "asses" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ashes" and "asses" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "ashes" or "asses"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ashes" 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 #450,450 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ashes" and "asses" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "asides vs asses". 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 #450,450 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.