blocksvsbricksWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#3,410
“blocks” frequency rank
#9,445
“bricks” frequency rank
12855
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature blocks bricks
Definition plural of block plural of brick

Where the eye mixes blocks and bricks

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

6 ch
blocks
6 ch
bricks

Look-alike desk: blocks vs bricks

A purely visual mix-up. blocks (/blɑks/) and bricks (/bɹɪks/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12855, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

blocks is recorded at frequency rank #3,410, classified as anoun, pronounced /blɑks/. bricks is at rank #9,445, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bɹɪks/.

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 12855, this pair ranks #479,181 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of blocks vs bricks

Shared letters: bcks. Private to "blocks": lo. Private to "bricks": ir.

"blocks" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC  ·  "bricks" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • blocksbblocks · blcoks · bllocks · bloccks · blockks · blockss · blocsk · blokcs
  • bricksbbricks · bircks · brciks · briccks · brickks · brickss · bricsk · brikcs

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "blocks" and "bricks" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/blɑks/ versus /bɹɪks/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "blocks" vs "bricks" - which ranks higher?
"blocks" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,410 in our English list, against #9,445 for "bricks". 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 "blocks" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bricks" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #479,181 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "blocks" and "bricks" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bricks vs BRICS". 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 #479,181 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