goldsvsgolemWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“golds” and “golem” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#24,460
“golds” frequency rank
#37,470
“golem” frequency rank
61930
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature golds golem
Definition plural of gold A humanoid creature made from clay, animated by magic.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set golds and golem apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
golds
5 ch
golem

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. golds (/ɡəʊldz/) and golem (/ˈɡəʊ.ləm/) 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 61930, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

golds is recorded at frequency rank #24,460, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɡəʊldz/. golem is at rank #37,470, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɡəʊ.ləm/.

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 61930, this pair ranks #91,331 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of golds vs golem

Shared letters: glo. Private to "golds": ds. Private to "golem": em.

"golds" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "golem" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • goldsggolds · glods · godls · goldds · goldss · gollds · golsd · oglds
  • golemggolem · gloem · goelm · golemm · gollem · golme · oglem

Frequency comparison

golds#24,460
golem#37,470

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "golds" and "golem" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ɡəʊldz/ versus /ˈɡəʊ.ləm/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "golds" or "golem"?
"golds" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,460 in our English list, against #37,470 for "golem". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering golds vs golem

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “golds” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list