Which to use
“avoid” and “avoids” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,416
- “avoid” frequency rank
- #14,890
- “avoids” frequency rank
- 16306
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | avoid | avoids |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To try not to meet or communicate with (a person); to shun. | third-person singular simple present indicative of avoid |
Where the eye mixes avoid and avoids
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses avoid with avoids
A purely visual mix-up. avoid (/əˈvɔɪd/) and avoids (/əˈvɔɪdz/) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “avoid” sits inside “avoids”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16306, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
avoid is recorded at frequency rank #1,416, classified as averb, pronounced /əˈvɔɪd/. 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 16306, this pair ranks #458,597 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of avoid vs avoids
Shared letters: adiov. Private to "avoid": -. Private to "avoids": s.
"avoid" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC · "avoids" · 6 letters · shape VCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "avoid" for "avoids" ever safe?
Which is more common, "avoid" or "avoids"?
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 "avoid" 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 #458,597 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "avoid" and "avoids" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "avis vs avoids". 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 #458,597 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.