Which to use
“debts” and “depths” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,215
- “debts” frequency rank
- #9,873
- “depths” frequency rank
- 17088
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | debts | depths |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of debt | plural of depth |
Where the eye mixes debts and depths
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. debts runs 5 letters (CVCCC) against depths's 6 (CVCCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between debts and depths
A purely visual mix-up. debts (/dɛts/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17088, 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/. 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 17088, this pair ranks #453,712 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of debts vs depths
Shared letters: dest. Private to "debts": b. Private to "depths": hp.
"debts" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "depths" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "debts" and "depths" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "debts" or "depths"?
Useful next steps
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 "depths" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #453,712 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "debts" and "depths" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dabs vs debts". 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 #453,712 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.