Which to use
“probe” is a noun and “probs” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,266
- “probe” frequency rank
- #37,641
- “probs” frequency rank
- 44907
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | probe | probs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Any of various medical instruments used to explore wounds, organs, etc. | Clipping of probably. |
Letter map: probe vs probs
Shared letters muted; letters that set probe and probs apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.
Part-of-speech tell for probe / probs
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: probe is anoun and probsanadverb. On the page they differ by a single letter - e in “probe” becomes s in “probs”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44907, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
probe is recorded at frequency rank #7,266, classified as anoun, pronounced /pɹəʊb/. 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 44907, this pair ranks #226,233 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of probe vs probs
Shared letters: bopr. Private to "probe": e. Private to "probs": s.
"probe" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "probs" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "probe" for "probs" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "probe" or "probs" show up more?
What to do next
Pair "probe" vs "probs" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "probe" 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 #226,233 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "probe" 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 #226,233 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.