pissesvspulsesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#15,476
“pisses” frequency rank
#17,928
“pulses” frequency rank
33404
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pisses pulses
Definition plural of piss plural of pulse

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pisses and pulses apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
pisses
6 ch
pulses

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

pisses and pulses are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33404, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pisses is recorded at frequency rank #15,476, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɪs.ɪz/. pulses is at rank #17,928, tagged as anoun.

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 33404, this pair ranks #329,724 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pisses vs pulses

Shared letters: eps. Private to "pisses": i. Private to "pulses": lu.

"pisses" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "pulses" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pissesipsses · pises · pisess · pissess · pissse · ppisses · psises
  • pulsespluses · ppulses · puless · pullses · pulsess · pulsses · pusles · uplses

Frequency comparison

pisses#15,476
pulses#17,928

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pisses" and "pulses" be used interchangeably?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "pisses" or "pulses"?
"pisses" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,476 in our English list, against #17,928 for "pulses". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pisses vs pulses

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 “pisses” 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