complimentvscomplimentsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“compliment” and “compliments” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#8,132
“compliment” frequency rank
#11,521
“compliments” frequency rank
19653
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature compliment compliments
Definition An expression of praise, congratulation, or respect. plural of compliment

Where the eye mixes compliment and compliments

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence.

10 ch
compliment
11 ch
compliments

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. compliment (/ˈkɑmpləmənt/) and compliments (/ˈkɑmplɪmənts/) 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 extra letter(s) - “compliment” sits inside “compliments”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19653, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

compliment is recorded at frequency rank #8,132, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɑmpləmənt/. compliments is at rank #11,521, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɑmplɪmənts/.

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 19653, this pair ranks #436,658 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of compliment vs compliments

Shared letters: ceilmnopt. Private to "compliment": -. Private to "compliments": s.

"compliment" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCC  ·  "compliments" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • complimentccompliment · cmopliment · comlpiment · commpliment · compilment · compliemnt · complimennt · complimentt
  • complimentsccompliments · cmopliments · comlpiments · commpliments · compilments · compliemnts · complimennts · complimenst

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "compliment" and "compliments" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈkɑmpləmənt/ versus /ˈkɑmplɪmənts/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "compliment" or "compliments"?
"compliment" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,132 in our English list, against #11,521 for "compliments". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "compliment" and "compliments". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "compliment" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "compliments" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #436,658 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "compliment" and "compliments" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "complacent vs compliment". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list