Which to use
“priest” and “priests” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,109
- “priest” frequency rank
- #7,044
- “priests” frequency rank
- 11153
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | priest | priests |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A religious clergyman (clergywoman, clergyperson) who is trained to perform services or sacrifices at a church or temple. | plural of priest |
Where the eye mixes priest and priests
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. priest runs 6 letters (CCVVCC) against priests's 7 (CCVVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between priest and priests
A purely visual mix-up. priest (/ˈpɹiːst/) and priests (/ˈpɹiːsts/) 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 extra letter(s) - “priest” sits inside “priests”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11153, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
priest is recorded at frequency rank #4,109, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɹiːst/. priests is at rank #7,044, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɹiːsts/.
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 11153, this pair ranks #488,619 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of priest vs priests
Shared letters: eiprst. Private to "priest": -. Private to "priests": -.
"priest" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC · "priests" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "priest" and "priests" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "priest" or "priests"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "priest" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "priests" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #488,619 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "priest" and "priests" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "piet vs priest". 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 #488,619 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.