debts vs doubts, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“debts” and “doubts” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#7,215
“debts” frequency rank: #7,677
“doubts” frequency rank: 14892
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	debts	doubts
Definition	plural of debt	plural of doubt

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set debts and doubts apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

debts

6 ch

doubts

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. debts (/dɛts/) and doubts (/daʊts/) 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 14892, 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/. doubts is at rank #7,677, tagged as anoun, pronounced /daʊts/.

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 14892, this pair ranks #467,327 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of debts vs doubts

Shared letters: bdst. Private to "debts": e. Private to "doubts": ou.

"debts" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "doubts" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

debts ← dbets · ddebts · debbts · debst · debtss · debtts · detbs · edbts
doubts ← ddoubts · dobuts · doubbts · doubst · doubtss · doubtts · doutbs · duobts

Frequency comparison

debts#7,215

doubts#7,677

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "debts" and "doubts" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/dɛts/ versus /daʊts/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "debts" or "doubts"?

"debts" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,215 in our English list, against #7,677 for "doubts". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering debts vs doubts

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “debts” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable