Which to use
“quads” and “quakes” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,569
- “quads” frequency rank
- #40,858
- “quakes” frequency rank
- 79427
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | quads | quakes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of quad | plural of quake |
Where the eye mixes quads and quakes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. quads runs 5 letters (CVVCC) against quakes's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses quads with quakes
A purely visual mix-up. quads (/kwɒdz/) and quakes (/kweɪks/) 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 79427, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
quads is recorded at frequency rank #38,569, classified as anoun, pronounced /kwɒdz/. quakes is at rank #40,858, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kweɪks/.
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 79427, this pair ranks #22,104 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of quads vs quakes
Shared letters: aqsu. Private to "quads": d. Private to "quakes": ek.
"quads" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "quakes" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "quads" and "quakes" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "quads" or "quakes"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "quads" and "quakes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "quads" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "quakes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #22,104 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "quads" and "quakes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "quacks vs quakes". 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 #22,104 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.