Which to use
“oars” and “oaths” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #28,647
- “oars” frequency rank
- #32,518
- “oaths” frequency rank
- 61165
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | oars | oaths |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of oar | plural of oath |
Where the eye mixes oars and oaths
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses oars with oaths
A purely visual mix-up. oars (/ɔːz/) and oaths (/əʊðz/) 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 61165, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
oars is recorded at frequency rank #28,647, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɔːz/. oaths is at rank #32,518, tagged as anoun, pronounced /əʊðz/.
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 61165, this pair ranks #95,799 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of oars vs oaths
Shared letters: aos. Private to "oars": r. Private to "oaths": ht.
"oars" · 4 letters · shape VVCC · "oaths" · 5 letters · shape VVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "oars" and "oaths" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "oars" or "oaths"?
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 "oars" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "oaths" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #95,799 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "oars" and "oaths" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "oars vs OWS". 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 #95,799 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.