pipsvspoopsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#31,705
“pips” frequency rank
#48,978
“poops” frequency rank
80683
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pips poops
Definition plural of pip plural of poop

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pips and poops apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
pips
5 ch
poops

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. pips (/pɪps/) and poops (/puːps/) 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 80683, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pips is recorded at frequency rank #31,705, classified as anoun, pronounced /pɪps/. poops is at rank #48,978, tagged as anoun, pronounced /puːps/.

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 80683, this pair ranks #19,280 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pips vs poops

Shared letters: ps. Private to "pips": i. Private to "poops": o.

"pips" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "poops" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pipsipps · pipps · pipss · pisp · ppips · ppis
  • poopsopops · poopps · poopss · poosp · popos · ppoops

Frequency comparison

pips#31,705
poops#48,978

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pips" and "poops" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/pɪps/ versus /puːps/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pips" or "poops"?
"pips" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,705 in our English list, against #48,978 for "poops". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pips vs poops

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pips” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list