Which to use
“joke” and “joys” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,117
- “joke” frequency rank
- #17,397
- “joys” frequency rank
- 19514
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | joke | joys |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An amusing story. | plural of joy |
Where the eye mixes joke and joys
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. joke (/d͡ʒəʊk/) and joys (/d͡ʒɔɪz/) 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 19514, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
joke is recorded at frequency rank #2,117, classified as anoun, pronounced /d͡ʒəʊk/. joys is at rank #17,397, tagged as anoun, pronounced /d͡ʒɔɪz/.
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 19514, this pair ranks #437,626 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of joke vs joys
Shared letters: jo. Private to "joke": ek. Private to "joys": sy.
"joke" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "joys" · 4 letters · shape CVVC