Which to use
“attaché” is a noun and “attaches” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #38,292
- “attaché” frequency rank
- #24,986
- “attaches” frequency rank
- 63278
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | attaché | attaches |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A diplomatic officer, usually one who plays a specific role. | third-person singular simple present indicative of attach |
Where the eye mixes attaché and attaches
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: attaché vs attaches
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: attaché is /əˈtæʃeɪ/ while attaches is /əˈtæt͡ʃɪz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63278, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
attaché is recorded at frequency rank #38,292, classified as anoun, pronounced /əˈtæʃeɪ/. attaches is at rank #24,986, tagged as averb, pronounced /əˈtæt͡ʃɪz/.
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 63278, this pair ranks #83,838 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of attaché vs attaches
Shared letters: acht. Private to "attaché": é. Private to "attaches": es.
"attaché" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV · "attaches" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- attaches ← ataches · atatches · attacches · attacehs · attachess · attachhes · attachse · attahces
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "attaché" and "attaches" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "attaché" or "attaches" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "attaché" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "attaches" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #83,838 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "attaché" and "attaches" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Apache vs attaché". 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 #83,838 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.