Which to use
“authorise” is a verb and “authors” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #37,329
- “authorise” frequency rank
- #3,040
- “authors” frequency rank
- 40369
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | authorise | authors |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Non-Oxford British English standard spelling of authorize. | plural of author |
Letter map: authorise vs authors
Shared letters muted; letters that set authorise and authors apart highlighted. Shared run: 7.
Role in the sentence - authorise and authors
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: authorise is averb and authorsanoun. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40369, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
authorise is recorded at frequency rank #37,329, classified as averb. authors is at rank #3,040, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɔː.θəz/.
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 40369, this pair ranks #268,216 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of authorise vs authors
Shared letters: ahorstu. Private to "authorise": ei. Private to "authors": -.
"authorise" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCVCV · "authors" · 7 letters · shape VVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "authorise" for "authors" ever safe?
Frequency check: "authorise" vs "authors" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
You've compared "authorise" and "authors". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "authorise" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "authors" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #268,216 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "authorise" and "authors" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "authorise vs authorize". 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 #268,216 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.