jokes vs joss, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#4,097
“jokes” frequency rank: #25,813
“joss” frequency rank: 29910
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	jokes	joss
Definition	plural of joke	A Chinese household divinity; a Chinese idol.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch

jokes

4 ch

joss

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. jokes (/d͡ʒəʊks/) and joss (/dʒɒs/) 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 29910, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

jokes is recorded at frequency rank #4,097, classified as anoun, pronounced /d͡ʒəʊks/. joss is at rank #25,813, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dʒɒs/.

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 29910, this pair ranks #359,007 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of jokes vs joss

Shared letters: jos. Private to "jokes": ek. Private to "joss": -.

"jokes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "joss" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

jokes ← jjokes · jkoes · joeks · jokess · jokkes · jokse · ojkes
joss ← jjoss · jos · jsos · ojss

Frequency comparison

jokes#4,097

joss#25,813

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "jokes" and "joss" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/d͡ʒəʊks/ versus /dʒɒs/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "jokes" or "joss"?

"jokes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,097 in our English list, against #25,813 for "joss". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering jokes vs joss

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 “jokes” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable