Which to use
“deaths” and “depths” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,827
- “deaths” frequency rank
- #9,873
- “depths” frequency rank
- 12700
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | deaths | depths |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of death | plural of depth |
Where the eye mixes deaths and depths
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. deaths (CVVCCC) and depths (CVCCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses deaths with depths
A purely visual mix-up. deaths (/dɛθs/) and depths (/dɛpθs/) 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 a single letter - a in “deaths” becomes p in “depths”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12700, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
deaths is recorded at frequency rank #2,827, classified as anoun, pronounced /dɛθs/. depths is at rank #9,873, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɛpθs/.
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 12700, this pair ranks #480,043 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of deaths vs depths
Shared letters: dehst. Private to "deaths": a. Private to "depths": p.
"deaths" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCC · "depths" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "deaths" and "depths" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "deaths" vs "depths" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "deaths" and "depths" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "deaths" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "depths" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #480,043 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "deaths" and "depths" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dents vs depths". 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 #480,043 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.