Which to use
“eighth” is an adjective and “eighty” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,125
- “eighth” frequency rank
- #10,356
- “eighty” frequency rank
- 15481
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | eighth | eighty |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The ordinal form of the number eight. | The cardinal number occurring after seventy-nine and before eighty-one, represented in Roman numerals as LXXX and in Arabic numerals as 80. |
Where the eye mixes eighth and eighty
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses eighth with eighty
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: eighth is /eɪtθ/ while eighty is /ˈeɪ.ti/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - h in “eighth” becomes y in “eighty”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15481, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
eighth is recorded at frequency rank #5,125, classified as anadj, pronounced /eɪtθ/. eighty is at rank #10,356, tagged as anum, pronounced /ˈeɪ.ti/.
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 15481, this pair ranks #463,684 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of eighth vs eighty
Shared letters: eghit. Private to "eighth": -. Private to "eighty": y.
"eighth" · 6 letters · shape VVCCCC · "eighty" · 6 letters · shape VVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "eighth" and "eighty" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "eighth" vs "eighty" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "eighth" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "eighty" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #463,684 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "eighth" and "eighty" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "eight vs eighty". 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 #463,684 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.