breachesvsbreechesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#18,257
“breaches” frequency rank
#43,066
“breeches” frequency rank
61323
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature breaches breeches
Definition plural of breach plural of breech

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set breaches and breeches apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
breaches
8 ch
breeches

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. breaches and breeches are pronounced identically (/ˈbɹiːt͡ʃɪz/) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by a single letter - a in “breaches” becomes e in “breeches”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61323, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

breaches is recorded at frequency rank #18,257, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈbɹiːt͡ʃɪz/. breeches is at rank #43,066, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈbɹiː.t͡ʃɪz/.

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 61323, this pair ranks #94,968 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of breaches vs breeches

Shared letters: bcehrs. Private to "breaches": a. Private to "breeches": -.

"breaches" · 8 letters · shape CCVVCCVC  ·  "breeches" · 8 letters · shape CCVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • breachesbbreaches · beraches · braeches · breacches · breacehs · breachess · breachhes · breachse
  • breechesbbreeches · bereches · brecehes · breches · breecches · breecehs · breechess · breechhes

Frequency comparison

breaches#18,257
breeches#43,066

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "breaches" and "breeches" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (/ˈbɹiːt͡ʃɪz/), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Which is more common, "breaches" or "breeches"?
"breaches" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,257 in our English list, against #43,066 for "breeches". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering breaches vs breeches

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “breaches” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list