Which to use
“ends” and “envy” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,822
- “ends” frequency rank
- #9,040
- “envy” frequency rank
- 10862
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ends | envy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of end | Resentful desire of something possessed by another or others (but not limited to material possessions). |
Where the eye mixes ends and envy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ends with envy
A purely visual mix-up. ends (/ɛndz/) and envy (/ˈɛnvi/) 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 10862, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ends is recorded at frequency rank #1,822, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɛndz/. envy is at rank #9,040, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɛnvi/.
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 10862, this pair ranks #490,135 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ends vs envy
Shared letters: en. Private to "ends": ds. Private to "envy": vy.
"ends" · 4 letters · shape VCCC · "envy" · 4 letters · shape VCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ends" for "envy" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ends" vs "envy" - which ranks higher?
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 "ends" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "envy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #490,135 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ends" and "envy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Enos vs envy". 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 #490,135 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.