Which to use
“privilege” and “privileges” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,156
- “privilege” frequency rank
- #10,259
- “privileges” frequency rank
- 15415
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | privilege | privileges |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An exemption from certain laws granted by the Pope. | plural of privilege |
Where the eye mixes privilege and privileges
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between privilege and privileges
A purely visual mix-up. privilege (/ˈpɹɪv.(ɪ.)lɪd͡ʒ/) and privileges (/ˈpɹɪv.(ɪ.)lɪ.d͡ʒɪz/) 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) - “privilege” sits inside “privileges”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15415, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
privilege is recorded at frequency rank #5,156, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɹɪv.(ɪ.)lɪd͡ʒ/. privileges is at rank #10,259, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɹɪv.(ɪ.)lɪ.d͡ʒɪz/.
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 15415, this pair ranks #464,109 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of privilege vs privileges
Shared letters: egilprv. Private to "privilege": -. Private to "privileges": s.
"privilege" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCVCV · "privileges" · 10 letters · shape CCVCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- privilege ← pirvilege · pprivilege · priivlege · privielge · privileeg · privilegge · privilgee · privillege
- privileges ← pirvileges · pprivileges · priivleges · privielges · privileegs · privilegess · privilegges · privilegse
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "privilege" for "privileges" ever safe?
Which is more common, "privilege" or "privileges"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "privilege" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "privileges" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #464,109 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "privilege" and "privileges" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "privileged vs privileges". 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 #464,109 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.