Which to use
“confess” and “confesses” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,306
- “confess” frequency rank
- #24,707
- “confesses” frequency rank
- 34013
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | confess | confesses |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To admit to the truth, particularly in the context of sins or crimes committed. | third-person singular simple present indicative of confess |
Where the eye mixes confess and confesses
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. confess runs 7 letters (CVCCVCC) against confesses's 9 (CVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between confess and confesses
A purely visual mix-up. confess (/kənˈfɛs/) and confesses (/kənˈfɛsɪz/) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “confess” sits inside “confesses”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34013, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
confess is recorded at frequency rank #9,306, classified as averb, pronounced /kənˈfɛs/. confesses is at rank #24,707, tagged as averb, pronounced /kənˈfɛsɪz/.
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 34013, this pair ranks #324,393 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of confess vs confesses
Shared letters: cefnos. Private to "confess": -. Private to "confesses": -.
"confess" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "confesses" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "confess" and "confesses" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "confess" or "confesses" 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 "confess" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "confesses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #324,393 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "confess" and "confesses" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "confesses vs confessor". 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 #324,393 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.