Which to use
“capes” and “cats” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #28,860
- “capes” frequency rank
- #3,215
- “cats” frequency rank
- 32075
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | capes | cats |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of cape | plural of cat |
Where the eye mixes capes and cats
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: capes vs cats
A purely visual mix-up. capes (/keɪps/) and cats (/kæts/) 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 32075, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
capes is recorded at frequency rank #28,860, classified as anoun, pronounced /keɪps/. cats is at rank #3,215, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kæts/.
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 32075, this pair ranks #340,837 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of capes vs cats
Shared letters: acs. Private to "capes": ep. Private to "cats": t.
"capes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "cats" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "capes" and "cats" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "capes" or "cats" show up more?
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 "capes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cats" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #340,837 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "capes" and "cats" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "capes 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 #340,837 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.