eyebrowvseyebrowsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#17,839
“eyebrow” frequency rank
#10,363
“eyebrows” frequency rank
28202
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature eyebrow eyebrows
Definition The hair that grows over the bone ridge above the eye socket. plural of eyebrow

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set eyebrow and eyebrows apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
eyebrow
8 ch
eyebrows

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. eyebrow (/ˈaɪˌbɹaʊ/) and eyebrows (/ˈaɪˌbɹaʊz/) 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 extra letter(s) - “eyebrow” sits inside “eyebrows”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28202, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

eyebrow is recorded at frequency rank #17,839, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈaɪˌbɹaʊ/. eyebrows is at rank #10,363, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈaɪˌbɹaʊz/.

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 28202, this pair ranks #372,935 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of eyebrow vs eyebrows

Shared letters: beorwy. Private to "eyebrow": -. Private to "eyebrows": s.

"eyebrow" · 7 letters · shape VVVCCVC  ·  "eyebrows" · 8 letters · shape VVVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • eyebroweeybrow · eyberow · eyebbrow · eyeborw · eyebroww · eyebrrow · eyebrwo · eyerbow
  • eyebrowseeybrows · eyberows · eyebbrows · eyeborws · eyebrosw · eyebrowss · eyebrowws · eyebrrows

Frequency comparison

eyebrow#17,839
eyebrows#10,363

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "eyebrow" and "eyebrows" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈaɪˌbɹaʊ/ versus /ˈaɪˌbɹaʊz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "eyebrow" or "eyebrows"?
"eyebrows" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,363 in our English list, against #17,839 for "eyebrow". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering eyebrow vs eyebrows

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 “eyebrow” 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