jawsvsjugsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#13,742
“jaws” frequency rank
#31,624
“jugs” frequency rank
45366
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature jaws jugs
Definition plural of jaw plural of jug

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
jaws
4 ch
jugs

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. jaws (/d͡ʒɔːz/) and jugs (/d͡ʒʌɡz/) 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 45366, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

jaws is recorded at frequency rank #13,742, classified as anoun, pronounced /d͡ʒɔːz/. jugs is at rank #31,624, tagged as anoun, pronounced /d͡ʒʌɡz/.

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 45366, this pair ranks #221,899 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of jaws vs jugs

Shared letters: js. Private to "jaws": aw. Private to "jugs": gu.

"jaws" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "jugs" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • jawsajws · jasw · jawss · jawws · jjaws · jwas
  • jugsjgus · jjugs · juggs · jugss · jusg · ujgs

Frequency comparison

jaws#13,742
jugs#31,624

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "jaws" and "jugs" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/d͡ʒɔːz/ versus /d͡ʒʌɡz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "jaws" or "jugs"?
"jaws" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,742 in our English list, against #31,624 for "jugs". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering jaws vs jugs

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 “jaws” 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