Which to use
“ibis” and “iris” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #35,763
- “ibis” frequency rank
- #10,228
- “iris” frequency rank
- 45991
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ibis | iris |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | A plant of the genus Iris, common in the northern hemisphere, and generally having attractive blooms (See Iris (plant) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia). |
Where the eye mixes ibis and iris
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ibis with iris
A purely visual mix-up. ibis (/ˈaɪ.bɪs/) and iris (/ˈaɪ.ɹɪs/) 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 a single letter - b in “ibis” becomes r in “iris”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45991, 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/. iris is at rank #10,228, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈaɪ.ɹɪs/.
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 45991, this pair ranks #216,032 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ibis vs iris
Shared letters: is. Private to "ibis": b. Private to "iris": r.
"ibis" · 4 letters · shape VCVC · "iris" · 4 letters · shape VCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ibis" for "iris" ever safe?
Which is more common, "ibis" or "iris"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ibis" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "iris" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #216,032 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ibis" and "iris" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ibis vs ices". 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 #216,032 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.