Which to use
“sharp” is an adjective and “sharps” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,136
- “sharp” frequency rank
- #46,172
- “sharps” frequency rank
- 49308
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sharp | sharps |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Terminating in a point or edge, especially one that can cut or pierce easily; not dull, obtuse, or rounded. | plural of sharp |
Where the eye mixes sharp and sharps
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses sharp with sharps
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sharp is /ʃɑːp/ while sharps is /ʃɑɹps/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “sharp” sits inside “sharps”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49308, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sharp is recorded at frequency rank #3,136, classified as anadj, pronounced /ʃɑːp/. sharps is at rank #46,172, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ʃɑɹps/.
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 49308, this pair ranks #184,897 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sharp vs sharps
Shared letters: ahprs. Private to "sharp": -. Private to "sharps": -.
"sharp" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "sharps" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sharp" for "sharps" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "sharp" or "sharps" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "sharp" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sharps" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #184,897 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sharp" and "sharps" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Shams vs sharps". 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 #184,897 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.