Which to use
“guru” and “gurus” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,340
- “guru” frequency rank
- #29,301
- “gurus” frequency rank
- 38641
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | guru | gurus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | In Indian traditions: a spiritual teacher who transmits knowledge to a shishya. | plural of guru |
Where the eye mixes guru and gurus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between guru and gurus
A purely visual mix-up. guru (/ˈɡʊɹuː/) and gurus (/ˈɡʊ.ɹuːz/) 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) - “guru” sits inside “gurus”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38641, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
guru is recorded at frequency rank #9,340, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɡʊɹuː/. gurus is at rank #29,301, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɡʊ.ɹuːz/.
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 38641, this pair ranks #284,109 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of guru vs gurus
Shared letters: gru. Private to "guru": -. Private to "gurus": s.
"guru" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "gurus" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "guru" for "gurus" ever safe?
Frequency check: "guru" vs "gurus" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "guru" and "gurus" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "guru" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gurus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #284,109 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "guru" and "gurus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gurl vs gurus". 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 #284,109 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.