Which to use
“ibis” is a noun and “IRS” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #35,763
- “ibis” frequency rank
- #8,440
- “IRS” frequency rank
- 44203
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ibis | IRS |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Initialism of Internal Revenue Service. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ibis and IRS apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
ibis and IRS form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44203, 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/. IRS is at rank #8,440, tagged as aname, pronounced /ˈaɪ.ɑɹ.ɛs/.
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 44203, this pair ranks #232,766 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ibis" and "IRS" be used interchangeably?
Remembering ibis vs IRS
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “ibis”; for a name, it's “IRS”.
- 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