Which to use
“polices” and “policies” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #42,829
- “polices” frequency rank
- #2,008
- “policies” frequency rank
- 44837
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | polices | policies |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of police (“police officer”) | plural of policy |
Where the eye mixes polices and policies
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. polices runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against policies's 8 (CVCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: polices vs policies
A purely visual mix-up. polices (/pəˈliːsɪz/) and policies (/ˈpɒl.ə.siz/) 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 44837, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
polices is recorded at frequency rank #42,829, classified as anoun, pronounced /pəˈliːsɪz/. policies is at rank #2,008, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɒl.ə.siz/.
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 44837, this pair ranks #226,857 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of polices vs policies
Shared letters: ceilops. Private to "polices": -. Private to "policies": -.
"polices" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "policies" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "polices" and "policies" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "polices" vs "policies" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "polices" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "policies" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #226,857 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "polices" and "policies" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "plies vs polices". 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 #226,857 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.