probvsprobsWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: prob is a noun, probs is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“prob” is a noun and “probs” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#17,003
“prob” frequency rank
#37,641
“probs” frequency rank
54644
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature prob probs
Definition Clipping of problem. Clipping of probably.

Letter map: prob vs probs

Shared letters muted; letters that set prob and probs apart highlighted. Shared run: 4. prob runs 4 letters (CCVC) against probs's 5 (CCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
prob
5 ch
probs

Part-of-speech tell for prob / probs

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: prob is anoun and probsanadverb. On the page they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “prob” sits inside “probs”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54644, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

prob is recorded at frequency rank #17,003, classified as anoun. probs is at rank #37,641, tagged as anadv.

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 54644, this pair ranks #139,511 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of prob vs probs

Shared letters: bopr. Private to "prob": -. Private to "probs": s.

"prob" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "probs" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • prob ← porb · pprob · prbo · probb · prrob · rpob
  • probs ← porbs · pprobs · prbos · probbs · probss · prosb · prrobs · rpobs

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "prob" for "probs" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "prob" is a noun and "probs" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "prob" or "probs"?
"prob" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,003 in our English list, against #37,641 for "probs". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pair "prob" vs "probs" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "prob" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "probs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #139,511 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "prob" and "probs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "poops vs probs". 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 #139,511 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list