easesvsexesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: eases is a verb, exes is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“eases” is a verb and “exes” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,530
“eases” frequency rank
#26,415
“exes” frequency rank
57945
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature eases exes
Definition third-person singular simple present indicative of ease plural of ex

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set eases and exes apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
eases
4 ch
exes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: eases is /ˈiːzɪz/ while exes is /ˈɛksəz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57945, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

eases is recorded at frequency rank #31,530, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈiːzɪz/. exes is at rank #26,415, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɛksəz/.

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 57945, this pair ranks #115,881 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of eases vs exes

Shared letters: es. Private to "eases": a. Private to "exes": x.

"eases" · 5 letters · shape VVCVC  ·  "exes" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • easesaeses · eaess · easess · easses · esaes
  • exeseexs · exess · exse · exxes · xees

Frequency comparison

eases#31,530
exes#26,415

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "eases" and "exes" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "eases" is a verb and "exes" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "eases" or "exes"?
"exes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,415 in our English list, against #31,530 for "eases". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering eases vs exes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “eases”; for a noun, it's “exes”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “eases” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list