Which to use
“sack” and “slacks” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,200
- “sack” frequency rank
- #33,420
- “slacks” frequency rank
- 41620
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sack | slacks |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A bag; especially a large bag of strong, coarse material for storage and handling of various commodities, such as potatoes, coal, coffee; or, a bag with handles used at a supermarket, a grocery sack; or, a small bag for small items, a satchel. | Semi-formal trousers which are less formal than those that are part of a suit but nowadays are considered suitable casualwear in most offices. (Takes a plural verb even when referring to a single pair; may be referred to as a pair of slacks.) |
Letter map: sack vs slacks
Shared letters muted; letters that set sack and slacks apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.
Corpus notes: sack and slacks
sack and slacks are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41620, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sack is recorded at frequency rank #8,200, classified as anoun, pronounced /sæk/. slacks is at rank #33,420, tagged as anoun.
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 41620, this pair ranks #256,626 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sack vs slacks
Shared letters: acks. Private to "sack": -. Private to "slacks": l.
"sack" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "slacks" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "sack" and "slacks" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "sack" vs "slacks" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
You've compared "sack" and "slacks". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "sack" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "slacks" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #256,626 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sack" and "slacks" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "slacks vs Slates". 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 #256,626 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.