doublevsdoublesWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#1,049
“double” frequency rank
#8,414
“doubles” frequency rank
9463
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature double doubles
Definition Made up of two matching or complementary elements. a game between pairs of players

Letter map: double vs doubles

Shared letters muted; letters that set double and doubles apart highlighted. Shared run: 6.

6 ch
double
7 ch
doubles

Grammar separator: double vs doubles

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: double is anadjective and doublesanoun. On the page they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “double” sits inside “doubles”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9463, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

double is recorded at frequency rank #1,049, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈdʌb.əl/. doubles is at rank #8,414, 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 9463, this pair ranks #497,283 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of double vs doubles

Shared letters: bdelou. Private to "double": -. Private to "doubles": s.

"double" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "doubles" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • doubleddouble · dobule · doubble · doubel · doublle · doulbe · duoble · oduble
  • doublesddoubles · dobules · doubbles · doubels · doubless · doublles · doublse · doulbes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "double" for "doubles" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "double" is an adjective and "doubles" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "double" or "doubles"?
"double" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,049 in our English list, against #8,414 for "doubles". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "double" and "doubles".

  • Full dictionary entry for "double" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "doubles" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #497,283 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "double" and "doubles" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "double vs douse". 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 #497,283 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