Which to use
“moths” and “myths” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #22,157
- “moths” frequency rank
- #10,407
- “myths” frequency rank
- 32564
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | moths | myths |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of moth | plural of myth |
Where the eye mixes moths and myths
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. moths and myths follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between moths and myths
A purely visual mix-up. moths (/mɔθs/) and myths (/mɪθs/) 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 a single letter - o in “moths” becomes y in “myths”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32564, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
moths is recorded at frequency rank #22,157, classified as anoun, pronounced /mɔθs/. myths is at rank #10,407, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mɪθs/.
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 32564, this pair ranks #336,716 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of moths vs myths
Shared letters: hmst. Private to "moths": o. Private to "myths": y.
"moths" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "myths" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "moths" and "myths" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "moths" or "myths"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "moths" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "myths" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #336,716 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "moths" and "myths" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mote vs moths". 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 #336,716 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.