Which to use
“ghosts” and “guests” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,546
- “ghosts” frequency rank
- #3,495
- “guests” frequency rank
- 12041
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ghosts | guests |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of ghost | plural of guest |
Where the eye mixes ghosts and guests
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: ghosts vs guests
A purely visual mix-up. ghosts (/ɡoʊsts/) and guests (/ɡɛsts/) 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 12041, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ghosts is recorded at frequency rank #8,546, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɡoʊsts/. guests is at rank #3,495, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɡɛsts/.
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 12041, this pair ranks #483,759 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ghosts vs guests
Shared letters: gst. Private to "ghosts": ho. Private to "guests": eu.
"ghosts" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC · "guests" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ghosts" and "guests" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "ghosts" or "guests" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ghosts" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "guests" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #483,759 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ghosts" and "guests" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "guests vs Guetta". 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 #483,759 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.