editsvsevilsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#16,222
“edits” frequency rank
#18,304
“evils” frequency rank
34526
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature edits evils
Definition plural of edit plural of evil

Where the eye mixes edits and evils

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
edits
5 ch
evils

Visual trap between edits and evils

A purely visual mix-up. edits (/ˈɛdɪts/) and evils (/ˈiːvɪlz/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34526, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

edits is recorded at frequency rank #16,222, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɛdɪts/. evils is at rank #18,304, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈiːvɪlz/.

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 34526, this pair ranks #320,051 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of edits vs evils

Shared letters: eis. Private to "edits": dt. Private to "evils": lv.

"edits" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC  ·  "evils" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • editsdeits · eddits · edist · editss · editts · edtis · eidts
  • evilseivls · evills · evilss · evisl · evvils · veils

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "edits" and "evils" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈɛdɪts/ versus /ˈiːvɪlz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "edits" or "evils"?
"edits" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,222 in our English list, against #18,304 for "evils". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "edits" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "evils" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #320,051 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "edits" and "evils" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "eval vs evils". 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 #320,051 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