restsvsresultsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“rests” and “results” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#12,313
“rests” frequency rank
#595
“results” frequency rank
12908
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rests results
Definition plural of rest plural of result

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set rests and results apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
rests
7 ch
results

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. rests (/ɹɛsts/) and results (/ɹɪˈzʌlts/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12908, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rests is recorded at frequency rank #12,313, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɹɛsts/. results is at rank #595, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɹɪˈzʌlts/.

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 12908, this pair ranks #478,846 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of rests vs results

Shared letters: erst. Private to "rests": -. Private to "results": lu.

"rests" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "results" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • restsersts · ressts · restss · restts · retss · rrests · rsets
  • resultsersults · resluts · ressults · resullts · resulst · resultss · resultts · resutls

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "rests" and "results" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ɹɛsts/ versus /ɹɪˈzʌlts/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "rests" or "results"?
"results" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #595 in our English list, against #12,313 for "rests". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list