ledgevsledgesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#16,956
“ledge” frequency rank
#40,779
“ledges” frequency rank
57735
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ledge ledges
Definition A narrow surface projecting horizontally from a wall, cliff, or other surface. plural of ledge

Where the eye mixes ledge and ledges

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
ledge
6 ch
ledges

Why the eye confuses ledge with ledges

A purely visual mix-up. ledge (/lɛd͡ʒ/) and ledges (/ˈlɛd͡ʒɪz/) 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) - “ledge” sits inside “ledges”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57735, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ledge is recorded at frequency rank #16,956, classified as anoun, pronounced /lɛd͡ʒ/. ledges is at rank #40,779, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɛd͡ʒɪz/.

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 57735, this pair ranks #117,375 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ledge vs ledges

Shared letters: degl. Private to "ledge": -. Private to "ledges": s.

"ledge" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "ledges" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ledgeeldge · ldege · leddge · ledeg · ledgge · legde · lledge
  • ledgeseldges · ldeges · leddges · ledegs · ledgess · ledgges · ledgse · legdes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ledge" for "ledges" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/lɛd͡ʒ/ versus /ˈlɛd͡ʒɪz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ledge" vs "ledges" - which ranks higher?
"ledge" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,956 in our English list, against #40,779 for "ledges". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ledge" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ledges" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #117,375 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ledge" and "ledges" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ledges vs lodger". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #117,375 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list