Which to use
“breaks” and “breaths” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,213
- “breaks” frequency rank
- #19,772
- “breaths” frequency rank
- 22985
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | breaks | breaths |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of break | plural of breath |
Where the eye mixes breaks and breaths
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: breaks vs breaths
A purely visual mix-up. breaks (/bɹeɪks/) and breaths (/bɹɛθs/) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22985, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
breaks is recorded at frequency rank #3,213, classified as anoun, pronounced /bɹeɪks/. breaths is at rank #19,772, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bɹɛθs/.
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 22985, this pair ranks #412,578 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of breaks vs breaths
Shared letters: abers. Private to "breaks": k. Private to "breaths": ht.
"breaks" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC · "breaths" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "breaks" for "breaths" ever safe?
Which is more common, "breaks" or "breaths"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "breaks" and "breaths" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "breaks" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "breaths" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #412,578 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "breaks" and "breaths" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "brats vs breaths". 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 #412,578 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.