jigvsjigsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#25,439
“jig” frequency rank
#48,301
“jigs” frequency rank
73740
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature jig jigs
Definition A light, brisk musical movement; a gigue. plural of jig

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set jig and jigs apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
jig
4 ch
jigs

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. jig (/d͡ʒɪɡ/) and jigs (/d͡ʒɪɡz/) 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 extra letter(s) - “jig” sits inside “jigs”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73740, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

jig is recorded at frequency rank #25,439, classified as anoun, pronounced /d͡ʒɪɡ/. jigs is at rank #48,301, tagged as anoun, pronounced /d͡ʒɪɡz/.

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 73740, this pair ranks #38,594 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of jig vs jigs

Shared letters: gij. Private to "jig": -. Private to "jigs": s.

"jig" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "jigs" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • jigsijgs · jgis · jiggs · jigss · jisg · jjigs

Frequency comparison

jig#25,439
jigs#48,301

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "jig" and "jigs" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/d͡ʒɪɡ/ versus /d͡ʒɪɡz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "jig" or "jigs"?
"jig" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,439 in our English list, against #48,301 for "jigs". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering jig vs jigs

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 “jig” 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