digitalvsdigitsConfusable pair

Quick tell: digital is a adjective, digits is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“digital” is an adjective and “digits” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,560
“digital” frequency rank
#11,872
“digits” frequency rank
13432
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature digital digits
Definition Having to do with digits (fingers or toes); especially, performed with a finger. Synonym of telephone number; especially, the one that belongs to a potential dating partner.

Letter map: digital vs digits

Shared letters muted; letters that set digital and digits apart highlighted. Shared run: 5.

7 ch
digital
6 ch
digits

Role in the sentence - digital and digits

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: digital is anadjective and digitsanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13432, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

digital is recorded at frequency rank #1,560, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈdɪd͡ʒɪtl̩/. digits is at rank #11,872, tagged as anoun.

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 13432, this pair ranks #475,847 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of digital vs digits

Shared letters: dgit. Private to "digital": al. Private to "digits": s.

"digital" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "digits" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • digitalddigital · dgiital · diggital · digiatl · digitall · digitla · digittal · digtial
  • digitsddigits · dgiits · diggits · digist · digitss · digitts · digtis · diigts

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "digital" for "digits" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "digital" is an adjective and "digits" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "digital" or "digits"?
"digital" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,560 in our English list, against #11,872 for "digits". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pair "digital" vs "digits" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "digital" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "digits" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #475,847 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "digital" and "digits" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "digi vs digits". 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 #475,847 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list