Which to use
“figure” and “figures” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #904
- “figure” frequency rank
- #1,898
- “figures” frequency rank
- 2802
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | figure | figures |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A drawing or diagram conveying information. | plural of figure |
Where the eye mixes figure and figures
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: figure vs figures
A purely visual mix-up. figure (/ˈfɪɡə/) and figures (/ˈfɪɡjɚz/) 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) - “figure” sits inside “figures”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2802, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
figure is recorded at frequency rank #904, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈfɪɡə/. figures is at rank #1,898, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈfɪɡjɚz/.
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 2802, this pair ranks #523,995 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of figure vs figures
Shared letters: efgiru. Private to "figure": -. Private to "figures": s.
"figure" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "figures" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "figure" and "figures" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "figure" or "figures" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "figure" and "figures" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "figure" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "figures" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #523,995 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "figure" and "figures" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "figure vs fugue". 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 #523,995 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.