Which to use
“paces” and “plies” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,348
- “paces” frequency rank
- #47,263
- “plies” frequency rank
- 70611
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | paces | plies |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of pace | plural of ply |
Where the eye mixes paces and plies
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. paces (CVCVC) and plies (CCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses paces with plies
A purely visual mix-up. paces (/ˈpeɪsɪz/) and plies (/plaɪz/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70611, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
paces is recorded at frequency rank #23,348, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpeɪsɪz/. plies is at rank #47,263, tagged as anoun, pronounced /plaɪz/.
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 70611, this pair ranks #49,878 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of paces vs plies
Shared letters: eps. Private to "paces": ac. Private to "plies": il.
"paces" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "plies" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "paces" for "plies" ever safe?
Frequency check: "paces" vs "plies" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "paces" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "plies" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #49,878 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "paces" and "plies" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "plied vs plies". 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 #49,878 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.