Which to use
“debts” and “deeds” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,215
- “debts” frequency rank
- #9,731
- “deeds” frequency rank
- 16946
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | debts | deeds |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of debt | plural of deed |
Where the eye mixes debts and deeds
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between debts and deeds
A purely visual mix-up. debts (/dɛts/) and deeds (/diːdz/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16946, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
debts is recorded at frequency rank #7,215, classified as anoun, pronounced /dɛts/. deeds is at rank #9,731, tagged as anoun, pronounced /diːdz/.
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 16946, this pair ranks #454,599 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of debts vs deeds
Shared letters: des. Private to "debts": bt. Private to "deeds": -.
"debts" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "deeds" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "debts" and "deeds" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "debts" vs "deeds" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "debts" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "deeds" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #454,599 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "debts" and "deeds" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deeds vs dregs". 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 #454,599 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.