Which to use
“month” and “mouths” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #562
- “month” frequency rank
- #10,891
- “mouths” frequency rank
- 11453
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | month | mouths |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A period into which a year is divided, historically based on the phases of the moon. | plural of mouth |
Where the eye mixes month and mouths
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. month runs 5 letters (CVCCC) against mouths's 6 (CVVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: month vs mouths
A purely visual mix-up. month (/mʌnθ/) and mouths (/maʊðz/) 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 11453, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
month is recorded at frequency rank #562, classified as anoun, pronounced /mʌnθ/. mouths is at rank #10,891, tagged as anoun, pronounced /maʊðz/.
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 11453, this pair ranks #486,966 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of month vs mouths
Shared letters: hmot. Private to "month": n. Private to "mouths": su.
"month" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "mouths" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "month" and "mouths" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "month" or "mouths"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "month" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mouths" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #486,966 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "month" and "mouths" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Meath vs month". 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 #486,966 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.