# scales vs scalpel

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### scales
*noun · IPA /skeɪlz/ · frequency rank #7,390*
plural of scale

### scalpel
*noun · IPA /ˈskælpəl/ · frequency rank #39,076*
A small straight knife with a very sharp blade used for surgery, dissection and craftwork.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scales-vs-scalpel