Which to use
“pricks” and “princes” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,975
- “pricks” frequency rank
- #11,443
- “princes” frequency rank
- 39418
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pricks | princes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of prick | plural of prince |
Where the eye mixes pricks and princes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: pricks vs princes
A purely visual mix-up. pricks (/pɹɪks/) and princes (/ˈpɹɪnsɪz/) 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 39418, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pricks is recorded at frequency rank #27,975, classified as anoun, pronounced /pɹɪks/. princes is at rank #11,443, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɹɪnsɪz/.
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 39418, this pair ranks #276,901 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pricks vs princes
Shared letters: ciprs. Private to "pricks": k. Private to "princes": en.
"pricks" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC · "princes" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pricks" and "princes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "pricks" or "princes"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "pricks" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "princes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #276,901 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pricks" and "princes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pricks vs primus". 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 #276,901 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.