Which to use
“displace” is a verb and “displays” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,005
- “displace” frequency rank
- #6,352
- “displays” frequency rank
- 36357
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | displace | displays |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To put out of place; to disarrange. | plural of display |
Where the eye mixes displace and displays
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. displace (CVCCCVCV) and displays (CVCCCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: displace vs displays
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: displace is /dɪsˈpleɪs/ while displays is /dɪsˈpleɪz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36357, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
displace is recorded at frequency rank #30,005, classified as averb, pronounced /dɪsˈpleɪs/. displays is at rank #6,352, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɪsˈpleɪz/.
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 36357, this pair ranks #303,860 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of displace vs displays
Shared letters: adilps. Private to "displace": ce. Private to "displays": y.
"displace" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCV · "displays" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "displace" and "displays" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "displace" or "displays" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "displace" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "displays" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #303,860 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "displace" and "displays" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "disgrace vs displace". 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 #303,860 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.