Which to use
“ass” and “asses” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,065
- “ass” frequency rank
- #9,699
- “asses” frequency rank
- 10764
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ass | asses |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Any of several species of horse-like animals, especially Equus asinus, the domesticated of which are used as beasts of burden. | plural of ass |
Where the eye mixes ass and asses
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between ass and asses
A purely visual mix-up. ass (/æs/) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “ass” sits inside “asses”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10764, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ass is recorded at frequency rank #1,065, classified as anoun, pronounced /æs/. 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 10764, this pair ranks #490,650 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ass vs asses
Shared letters: as. Private to "ass": -. Private to "asses": e.
"ass" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "asses" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- asses ← ases · assse · sases
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ass" and "asses" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "ass" vs "asses" - which ranks higher?
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 "ass" 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 #490,650 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ass" 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 #490,650 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.