eavesvsexesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#34,866
“eaves” frequency rank
#26,415
“exes” frequency rank
61281
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature eaves exes
Definition The underside of a roof that extends beyond the external walls of a building. plural of ex

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
eaves
4 ch
exes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. eaves (/iːvz/) and exes (/ˈɛksəz/) 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 61281, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

eaves is recorded at frequency rank #34,866, classified as anoun, pronounced /iːvz/. 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 61281, this pair ranks #95,148 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of eaves vs exes

Shared letters: es. Private to "eaves": av. Private to "exes": x.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • eavesaeves · eaevs · eavess · eavse · eavves · evaes
  • exeseexs · exess · exse · exxes · xees

Frequency comparison

eaves#34,866
exes#26,415

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "eaves" and "exes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/iːvz/ versus /ˈɛksəz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "eaves" or "exes"?
"exes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,415 in our English list, against #34,866 for "eaves". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering eaves vs exes

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 “eaves” 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