greatest vs greatness, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“greatest” is an adjective and “greatness” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,694
“greatest” frequency rank: #11,036
“greatness” frequency rank: 12730
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	greatest	greatness
Definition	superlative form of great: most great	The state, condition, or quality of being great

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set greatest and greatness apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch

greatest

9 ch

greatness

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: greatest is /ˈɡɹeɪ.tɪst/ while greatness is /ˈɡɹeɪtnəs/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12730, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

greatest is recorded at frequency rank #1,694, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈɡɹeɪ.tɪst/. greatness is at rank #11,036, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɡɹeɪtnəs/.

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 12730, this pair ranks #479,874 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of greatest vs greatness

Shared letters: aegrst. Private to "greatest": -. Private to "greatness": n.

"greatest" · 8 letters · shape CCVVCVCC · "greatness" · 9 letters · shape CCVVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

greatest ← geratest · ggreatest · graetest · greaetst · greatesst · greatestt · greatets · greatset
greatness ← geratness · ggreatness · graetness · greantess · greatenss · greatnes · greatnness · greatnses

Frequency comparison

greatest#1,694

greatness#11,036

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "greatest" and "greatness" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "greatest" is an adjective and "greatness" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "greatest" or "greatness"?

"greatest" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,694 in our English list, against #11,036 for "greatness". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering greatest vs greatness

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “greatest”; for a noun, it's “greatness”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “greatest” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable