hundredsvshundredthConfusable pair

Quick tell: hundreds is a noun, hundredth is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#2,447
“hundreds” frequency rank
#36,609
“hundredth” frequency rank
39056
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hundreds hundredth
Definition plural of hundred The ordinal form of the number one hundred.

Where the eye mixes hundreds and hundredth

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. hundreds runs 8 letters (CVCCCVCC) against hundredth's 9 (CVCCCVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
hundreds
9 ch
hundredth

Why the eye confuses hundreds with hundredth

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hundreds is /ˈhʌn.dɹədz/ while hundredth is /ˈhʌndɹə(d)θ/. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39056, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hundreds is recorded at frequency rank #2,447, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈhʌn.dɹədz/. hundredth is at rank #36,609, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈhʌndɹə(d)θ/.

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 39056, this pair ranks #280,253 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hundreds vs hundredth

Shared letters: dehnru. Private to "hundreds": s. Private to "hundredth": t.

"hundreds" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCC  ·  "hundredth" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hundreds ← hhundreds · hnudreds · hudnreds · hunddreds · hunderds · hundrdes · hundredds · hundredss
  • hundredth ← hhundredth · hnudredth · hudnredth · hunddredth · hunderdth · hundrdeth · hundreddth · hundredht

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "hundreds" for "hundredth" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hundreds" is a noun and "hundredth" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary English text, does "hundreds" or "hundredth" show up more?
"hundreds" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,447 in our English list, against #36,609 for "hundredth". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "hundreds" and "hundredth" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "hundreds" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hundredth" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #280,253 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hundreds" and "hundredth" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hundreds vs huntress". 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 #280,253 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list