Which to use
“faces” and “focus” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,536
- “faces” frequency rank
- #1,077
- “focus” frequency rank
- 3613
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | faces | focus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of face | A point at which reflected or refracted rays of light converge. |
Where the eye mixes faces and focus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between faces and focus
A purely visual mix-up. faces (/ˈfeɪsɪz/) and focus (/ˈfəʊ.kəs/) 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 3613, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
faces is recorded at frequency rank #2,536, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈfeɪsɪz/. focus is at rank #1,077, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈfəʊ.kəs/.
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 3613, this pair ranks #521,579 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of faces vs focus
Shared letters: cfs. Private to "faces": ae. Private to "focus": ou.
"faces" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "focus" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "faces" and "focus" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "faces" vs "focus" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "faces" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "focus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #521,579 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "faces" and "focus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "faces vs Fars". 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 #521,579 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.