ibisvsicesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#35,763
“ibis” frequency rank
#48,810
“ices” frequency rank
84573
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ibis ices
Definition Any of various long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae, having long downcurved bills used to probe the mud for prey such as crustaceans. plural of ice

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ibis and ices apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
ibis
4 ch
ices

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. ibis (/ˈaɪ.bɪs/) and ices (/ˈaɪsɪz/) 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 84573, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ibis is recorded at frequency rank #35,763, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈaɪ.bɪs/. ices is at rank #48,810, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈaɪsɪz/.

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 84573, this pair ranks #11,847 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ibis vs ices

Shared letters: is. Private to "ibis": b. Private to "ices": ce.

"ibis" · 4 letters · shape VCVC  ·  "ices" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ibisbiis · ibbis · ibiss · ibsi · iibs
  • icescies · icces · icess · icse · iecs

Frequency comparison

ibis#35,763
ices#48,810

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ibis" and "ices" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈaɪ.bɪs/ versus /ˈaɪsɪz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ibis" or "ices"?
"ibis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,763 in our English list, against #48,810 for "ices". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ibis vs ices

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 “ibis” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list