Which to use
“grievance” and “grievances” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,849
- “grievance” frequency rank
- #17,374
- “grievances” frequency rank
- 41223
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | grievance | grievances |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Something which causes grief. | plural of grievance |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set grievance and grievances apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. grievance (/ˈɡɹiː.vəns/) and grievances (/ˈɡɹiː.vən.sɪz/) 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 extra letter(s) - “grievance” sits inside “grievances”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41223, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
grievance is recorded at frequency rank #23,849, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɡɹiː.vəns/. grievances is at rank #17,374, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɡɹiː.vən.sɪz/.
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 41223, this pair ranks #260,426 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of grievance vs grievances
Shared letters: aceginrv. Private to "grievance": -. Private to "grievances": s.
"grievance" · 9 letters · shape CCVVCVCCV · "grievances" · 10 letters · shape CCVVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- grievance ← ggrievance · girevance · greivance · grieavnce · grievacne · grievancce · grievanec · grievannce
- grievances ← ggrievances · girevances · greivances · grieavnces · grievacnes · grievancces · grievancess · grievancse
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "grievance" and "grievances" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "grievance" or "grievances"?
Remembering grievance vs grievances
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 “grievance” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable