Which to use
“icy” is an adjective and “ies” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,141
- “icy” frequency rank
- #45,988
- “ies” frequency rank
- 60129
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | icy | ies |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pertaining to, resembling, or abounding in ice; cold; frosty. | plural of i, the name of the letter I. |
Letter map: icy vs ies
Shared letters muted; letters that set icy and ies apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.
Role in the sentence - icy and ies
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: icy is anadjective and iesanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60129, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
icy is recorded at frequency rank #14,141, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈaɪsi/. ies is at rank #45,988, tagged as anoun.
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 60129, this pair ranks #102,016 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of icy vs ies
Shared letters: i. Private to "icy": cy. Private to "ies": es.
"icy" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "ies" · 3 letters · shape VVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "icy" and "ies" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "icy" vs "ies" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pair "icy" vs "ies" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "icy" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ies" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #102,016 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "icy" and "ies" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ies vs ith". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #102,016 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.