Which to use
“caches” and “caves” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #33,159
- “caches” frequency rank
- #11,354
- “caves” frequency rank
- 44513
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | caches | caves |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of cache | plural of cave |
Where the eye mixes caches and caves
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. caches runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against caves's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between caches and caves
A purely visual mix-up. caches (/ˈkæʃɪz/) and caves (/keɪvz/) 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 44513, 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/. caves is at rank #11,354, tagged as anoun, pronounced /keɪvz/.
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 44513, this pair ranks #229,844 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of caches vs caves
Shared letters: aces. Private to "caches": h. Private to "caves": v.
"caches" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "caves" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "caches" for "caves" ever safe?
Frequency check: "caches" vs "caves" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
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 "caves" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #229,844 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "caches" and "caves" 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 #229,844 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.