Which to use
“complains” and “complies” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,587
- “complains” frequency rank
- #30,373
- “complies” frequency rank
- 45960
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | complains | complies |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | third-person singular simple present indicative of complain | third-person singular simple present indicative of comply |
Where the eye mixes complains and complies
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. complains runs 9 letters (CVCCCVVCC) against complies's 8 (CVCCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: complains vs complies
A purely visual mix-up. complains (/kəmˈpleɪnz/) and complies (/kəmˈplaɪz/) 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 45960, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
complains is recorded at frequency rank #15,587, classified as averb, pronounced /kəmˈpleɪnz/. complies is at rank #30,373, tagged as averb, pronounced /kəmˈplaɪz/.
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 45960, this pair ranks #216,320 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of complains vs complies
Shared letters: cilmops. Private to "complains": an. Private to "complies": e.
"complains" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVVCC · "complies" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "complains" and "complies" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "complains" vs "complies" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "complains" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "complies" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #216,320 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "complains" and "complies" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "competes vs complies". 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 #216,320 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.