Which to use
“contacts” and “contracts” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,667
- “contacts” frequency rank
- #3,611
- “contracts” frequency rank
- 9278
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | contacts | contracts |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of contact | plural of contract |
Where the eye mixes contacts and contracts
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between contacts and contracts
A purely visual mix-up. contacts (/ˈkɑntækts/) and contracts (/ˈkɒn.tɹækts/) 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 9278, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
contacts is recorded at frequency rank #5,667, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɑntækts/. contracts is at rank #3,611, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɒn.tɹækts/.
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 9278, this pair ranks #498,205 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of contacts vs contracts
Shared letters: acnost. Private to "contacts": -. Private to "contracts": r.
"contacts" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCC · "contracts" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "contacts" and "contracts" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "contacts" or "contracts" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "contacts" and "contracts" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "contacts" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "contracts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #498,205 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "contacts" and "contracts" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "connects vs contacts". 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 #498,205 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.