Which to use
“completes” and “complies” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,494
- “completes” frequency rank
- #30,373
- “complies” frequency rank
- 44867
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | completes | complies |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | third-person singular simple present indicative of complete | third-person singular simple present indicative of comply |
Where the eye mixes completes and complies
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. completes runs 9 letters (CVCCCVCVC) against complies's 8 (CVCCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between completes and complies
A purely visual mix-up. completes (/kəmˈpliːts/) 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 44867, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
completes is recorded at frequency rank #14,494, classified as averb, pronounced /kəmˈpliːts/. 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 44867, this pair ranks #226,598 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of completes vs complies
Shared letters: celmops. Private to "completes": t. Private to "complies": i.
"completes" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC · "complies" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "completes" for "complies" ever safe?
Frequency check: "completes" vs "complies" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "completes" 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 #226,598 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "completes" 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 #226,598 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.