jour vs joys, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#29,330
“jour” frequency rank: #17,397
“joys” frequency rank: 46727
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	jour	joys
Definition	Abbreviation of journeyman, e.g. jour printer.	plural of joy

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch

jour

4 ch

joys

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. jour (/ˈd͡ʒɝ/) 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 46727, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

jour is recorded at frequency rank #29,330, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈd͡ʒɝ/. 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 46727, this pair ranks #209,040 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of jour vs joys

Shared letters: jo. Private to "jour": ru. Private to "joys": sy.

"jour" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "joys" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

jour ← jjour · joru · jourr · juor · ojur
joys ← jjoys · josy · joyss · joyys · jyos · ojys

Frequency comparison

jour#29,330

joys#17,397

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "jour" and "joys" be used interchangeably?

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

Which is more common, "jour" or "joys"?

"joys" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,397 in our English list, against #29,330 for "jour". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering jour vs joys

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