Which to use
“monkey” and “monkeys” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,380
- “monkey” frequency rank
- #8,829
- “monkeys” frequency rank
- 15209
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | monkey | monkeys |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A member of the clade Simiiformes other than those in the clade Hominoidea containing apes, generally (but not universally) distinguished by small size, tails, and cheek pouches. | plural of monkey |
Where the eye mixes monkey and monkeys
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: monkey vs monkeys
A purely visual mix-up. monkey (/ˈmʌŋki/) and monkeys (/ˈmʌŋkiz/) 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) - “monkey” sits inside “monkeys”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15209, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
monkey is recorded at frequency rank #6,380, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmʌŋki/. monkeys is at rank #8,829, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmʌŋkiz/.
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 15209, this pair ranks #465,393 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of monkey vs monkeys
Shared letters: ekmnoy. Private to "monkey": -. Private to "monkeys": s.
"monkey" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV · "monkeys" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "monkey" for "monkeys" ever safe?
Frequency check: "monkey" vs "monkeys" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "monkey" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "monkeys" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #465,393 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "monkey" and "monkeys" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Markey vs monkey". 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 #465,393 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.