Which to use
“finishes” and “fishes” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,287
- “finishes” frequency rank
- #16,710
- “fishes” frequency rank
- 24997
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | finishes | fishes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of finish | plural of fish |
Where the eye mixes finishes and fishes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. finishes runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against fishes's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses finishes with fishes
A purely visual mix-up. finishes (/ˈfɪnɪʃɪz/) and fishes (/ˈfɪʃɪz/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24997, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
finishes is recorded at frequency rank #8,287, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈfɪnɪʃɪz/. fishes is at rank #16,710, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈfɪʃɪz/.
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 24997, this pair ranks #397,711 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of finishes vs fishes
Shared letters: efhis. Private to "finishes": n. Private to "fishes": -.
"finishes" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "fishes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "finishes" for "fishes" ever safe?
Frequency check: "finishes" vs "fishes" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "finishes" and "fishes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "finishes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fishes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #397,711 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "finishes" and "fishes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fishes vs flushes". 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 #397,711 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.