Which to use
“ices” and “items” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,810
- “ices” frequency rank
- #1,726
- “items” frequency rank
- 50536
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ices | items |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of ice | plural of item |
Where the eye mixes ices and items
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ices with items
A purely visual mix-up. ices (/ˈaɪsɪz/) and items (/ˈaɪ.təmz/) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50536, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ices is recorded at frequency rank #48,810, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈaɪsɪz/. items is at rank #1,726, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈaɪ.təmz/.
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 50536, this pair ranks #173,410 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ices vs items
Shared letters: eis. Private to "ices": c. Private to "items": mt.
"ices" · 4 letters · shape VCVC · "items" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ices" and "items" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "ices" or "items" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ices" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "items" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #173,410 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ices" and "items" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ices vs ICJ". 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 #173,410 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.