Which to use
“slips” is a verb and “steps” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,861
- “slips” frequency rank
- #1,922
- “steps” frequency rank
- 14783
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | slips | steps |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | third-person singular simple present indicative of slip | plural of step. |
Where the eye mixes slips and steps
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between slips and steps
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: slips is /slɪps/ while steps is /stɛps/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14783, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
slips is recorded at frequency rank #12,861, classified as averb, pronounced /slɪps/. steps is at rank #1,922, tagged as anoun, pronounced /stɛps/.
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 14783, this pair ranks #467,975 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of slips vs steps
Shared letters: ps. Private to "slips": il. Private to "steps": et.
"slips" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "steps" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "slips" and "steps" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "slips" or "steps"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "slips" and "steps" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "slips" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "steps" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #467,975 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "slips" and "steps" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "SIDS vs slips". 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 #467,975 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.