Which to use
“brains” and “brakes” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,337
- “brains” frequency rank
- #8,248
- “brakes” frequency rank
- 14585
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | brains | brakes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of brain | plural of brake |
Where the eye mixes brains and brakes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between brains and brakes
A purely visual mix-up. brains (/bɹeɪnz/) and brakes (/bɹeɪks/) 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 14585, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
brains is recorded at frequency rank #6,337, classified as anoun, pronounced /bɹeɪnz/. brakes is at rank #8,248, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bɹeɪks/.
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 14585, this pair ranks #469,140 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of brains vs brakes
Shared letters: abrs. Private to "brains": in. Private to "brakes": ek.
"brains" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC · "brakes" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "brains" for "brakes" ever safe?
Frequency check: "brains" vs "brakes" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "brains" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "brakes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #469,140 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "brains" and "brakes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "brains 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 #469,140 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.