Which to use
“female” is an adjective and “females” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,076
- “female” frequency rank
- #3,753
- “females” frequency rank
- 4829
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | female | females |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Belonging to the sex which typically produces eggs (ova), or to the gender which is typically associated with it. | plural of female |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set female and females apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
female and females form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “female” sits inside “females” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4829, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
female is recorded at frequency rank #1,076, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈfiː.meɪl/. females is at rank #3,753, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈfiː.meɪlz/.
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 4829, this pair ranks #517,527 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "female" and "females" be used interchangeably?
Remembering female vs females
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “female”; for a noun, it's “females”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “female” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable