barackvsbarracksWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“barack” and “barracks” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#7,527
“barack” frequency rank
#11,651
“barracks” frequency rank
19178
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature barack barracks
Definition Hungarian apricot brandy. plural of barrack.

Where the eye mixes barack and barracks

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

6 ch
barack
8 ch
barracks

Look-alike desk: barack vs barracks

A purely visual mix-up. barack (/ˈbɒɹətsk/) and barracks (/ˈbæɹəks/) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19178, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

barack is recorded at frequency rank #7,527, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈbɒɹətsk/. barracks is at rank #11,651, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈbæɹəks/.

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 19178, this pair ranks #439,968 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of barack vs barracks

Shared letters: abckr. Private to "barack": -. Private to "barracks": s.

"barack" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "barracks" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • barackabrack · baarck · baracck · barackk · barakc · barcak · bbarack · braack
  • barracksabrracks · baracks · bararcks · barraccks · barrackks · barrackss · barracsk · barrakcs

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "barack" and "barracks" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈbɒɹətsk/ versus /ˈbæɹəks/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "barack" or "barracks"?
"barack" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,527 in our English list, against #11,651 for "barracks". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "barack" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "barracks" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #439,968 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "barack" and "barracks" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bara vs barack". 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 #439,968 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