Which to use
“caches” and “canoes” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #33,159
- “caches” frequency rank
- #28,478
- “canoes” frequency rank
- 61637
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | caches | canoes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of cache | plural of canoe |
Where the eye mixes caches and canoes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. caches (CVCCVC) and canoes (CVCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses caches with canoes
A purely visual mix-up. caches (/ˈkæʃɪz/) and canoes (/kəˈnuːz/) 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 61637, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
caches is recorded at frequency rank #33,159, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkæʃɪz/. canoes is at rank #28,478, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kəˈnuːz/.
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 61637, this pair ranks #93,089 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of caches vs canoes
Shared letters: aces. Private to "caches": h. Private to "canoes": no.
"caches" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "canoes" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "caches" and "canoes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "caches" or "canoes" show up more?
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 "caches" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "canoes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #93,089 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "caches" and "canoes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caches vs cates". 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 #93,089 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.