multitudevsmultitudesTell them apart

Which to use

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

#13,198
“multitude” frequency rank
#41,776
“multitudes” frequency rank
54974
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature multitude multitudes
Definition A great amount or number, often of people; abundance, myriad, profusion. plural of multitude

Letter map: multitude vs multitudes

Shared letters muted; letters that set multitude and multitudes apart highlighted. Shared run: 9.

9 ch
multitude
10 ch
multitudes

Corpus notes: multitude and multitudes

multitude and multitudes are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “multitude” sits inside “multitudes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54974, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

multitude is recorded at frequency rank #13,198, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmʌltɪtjuːd/. multitudes is at rank #41,776, tagged as anoun.

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 54974, this pair ranks #137,082 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of multitude vs multitudes

Shared letters: deilmtu. Private to "multitude": -. Private to "multitudes": s.

"multitude" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCV  ·  "multitudes" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • multitudemlutitude · mmultitude · mulittude · mulltitude · multitdue · multittude · multitudde · multitued
  • multitudesmlutitudes · mmultitudes · mulittudes · mulltitudes · multitdues · multittudes · multituddes · multitudess

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "multitude" and "multitudes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “multitude” sits inside “multitudes”, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
In ordinary English text, does "multitude" or "multitudes" show up more?
"multitude" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,198 in our English list, against #41,776 for "multitudes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pair "multitude" vs "multitudes" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "multitude" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "multitudes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #137,082 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • 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 #137,082 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