Odysseus vs odyssey, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“Odysseus” is a name and “odyssey” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#33,766
“Odysseus” frequency rank: #13,969
“odyssey” frequency rank: 47735
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	Odysseus	odyssey
Definition	A male given name from Ancient Greek.	An extended adventurous voyage, usually in search of home.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Odysseus and odyssey apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch

Odysseus

7 ch

odyssey

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Odysseus is /əˈdɪsjuːs/ while odyssey is /ˈɒd.ɪ.si/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47735, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Odysseus is recorded at frequency rank #33,766, classified as aname, pronounced /əˈdɪsjuːs/. odyssey is at rank #13,969, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɒd.ɪ.si/.

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 47735, this pair ranks #199,707 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Odysseus vs odyssey

Shared letters: deosy. Private to "Odysseus": u. Private to "odyssey": -.

"Odysseus" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVVC · "odyssey" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

Odysseus ← doysseus · oddysseus · odsyseus · odysesus · odyseus · odyssesu · odysseuss · odyssues
odyssey ← doyssey · oddyssey · odsysey · odysesy · odysey · odysseyy · odyssye · odyyssey

Frequency comparison

Odysseus#33,766

odyssey#13,969

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Odysseus" and "odyssey" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Odysseus" is a name and "odyssey" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "Odysseus" or "odyssey"?

"odyssey" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,969 in our English list, against #33,766 for "Odysseus". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Odysseus vs odyssey

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a name, it's “Odysseus”; for a noun, it's “odyssey”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Odysseus” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable