molestvsmoresTell them apart

Quick tell: molest is a verb, mores is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“molest” is a verb and “mores” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#40,346
“molest” frequency rank
#36,254
“mores” frequency rank
76600
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature molest mores
Definition To sexually assault or sexually harass. A set of moral norms or customs derived from generally accepted practices rather than written laws.

Where the eye mixes molest and mores

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. molest runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against mores's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
molest
5 ch
mores

Look-alike desk: molest vs mores

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: molest is /məˈlɛst/ while mores is /ˈmɔːɹeɪz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76600, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

molest is recorded at frequency rank #40,346, classified as averb, pronounced /məˈlɛst/. mores is at rank #36,254, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɔːɹeɪz/.

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 76600, this pair ranks #29,634 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of molest vs mores

Shared letters: emos. Private to "molest": lt. Private to "mores": r.

"molest" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "mores" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • molest ← mloest · mmolest · moelst · molesst · molestt · molets · mollest · molset
  • mores ← mmores · moers · moress · morres · mroes · omres

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "molest" and "mores" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "molest" is a verb and "mores" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "molest" or "mores"?
"mores" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,254 in our English list, against #40,346 for "molest". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "molest" and "mores" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "molest" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mores" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #29,634 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "molest" and "mores" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mores vs Moresby". 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 #29,634 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