avidvsavoidsWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: avid is a adjective, avoids is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“avid” is an adjective and “avoids” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#14,889
“avid” frequency rank
#14,890
“avoids” frequency rank
29779
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature avid avoids
Definition Enthusiastic; keen; eager; showing great interest in something or desire to do something. third-person singular simple present indicative of avoid

Where the eye mixes avid and avoids

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
avid
6 ch
avoids

Look-alike desk: avid vs avoids

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: avid is /ˈæv.ɪd/ while avoids is /əˈvɔɪdz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29779, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

avid is recorded at frequency rank #14,889, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈæv.ɪd/. avoids is at rank #14,890, tagged as averb, pronounced /əˈvɔɪdz/.

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 29779, this pair ranks #360,091 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of avid vs avoids

Shared letters: adiv. Private to "avid": -. Private to "avoids": os.

"avid" · 4 letters · shape VCVC  ·  "avoids" · 6 letters · shape VCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • avidaivd · avdi · avidd · avvid · vaid
  • avoidsaovids · aviods · avodis · avoidds · avoidss · avoisd · avvoids · vaoids

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "avid" for "avoids" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "avid" is an adjective and "avoids" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "avid" or "avoids"?
"avid" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,889 in our English list, against #14,890 for "avoids". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "avid" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "avoids" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #360,091 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "avid" and "avoids" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Advil vs avid". 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 #360,091 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list