Which to use
“ounce” and “ounces” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,642
- “ounce” frequency rank
- #14,179
- “ounces” frequency rank
- 23821
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ounce | ounces |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An avoirdupois ounce, weighing ¹⁄₁₆ of an avoirdupois pound, or 28.349523125 grams. | plural of ounce |
Where the eye mixes ounce and ounces
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. ounce runs 5 letters (VVCCV) against ounces's 6 (VVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between ounce and ounces
A purely visual mix-up. ounce (/aʊns/) and ounces (/ˈaʊnsɪz/) 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 extra letter(s) - “ounce” sits inside “ounces”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23821, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ounce is recorded at frequency rank #9,642, classified as anoun, pronounced /aʊns/. ounces is at rank #14,179, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈaʊnsɪz/.
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 23821, this pair ranks #406,528 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ounce vs ounces
Shared letters: cenou. Private to "ounce": -. Private to "ounces": s.
"ounce" · 5 letters · shape VVCCV · "ounces" · 6 letters · shape VVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ounce" for "ounces" ever safe?
Which is more common, "ounce" or "ounces"?
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 "ounce" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ounces" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #406,528 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ounce" and "ounces" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ouch vs ounce". 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 #406,528 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.