Which to use
“ghosts” and “gusts” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,546
- “ghosts” frequency rank
- #23,852
- “gusts” frequency rank
- 32398
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ghosts | gusts |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of ghost | plural of gust |
Where the eye mixes ghosts and gusts
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. ghosts runs 6 letters (CCVCCC) against gusts's 5 (CVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: ghosts vs gusts
A purely visual mix-up. ghosts (/ɡoʊsts/) and gusts (/ɡʌsts/) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32398, 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/. gusts is at rank #23,852, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɡʌsts/.
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 32398, this pair ranks #338,129 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ghosts vs gusts
Shared letters: gst. Private to "ghosts": ho. Private to "gusts": u.
"ghosts" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC · "gusts" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ghosts" for "gusts" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ghosts" vs "gusts" - 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 "ghosts" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gusts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #338,129 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ghosts" and "gusts" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gusts vs gusty". 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 #338,129 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.