Which to use
“sobs” and “sone” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,107
- “sobs” frequency rank
- #48,495
- “sone” frequency rank
- 71602
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sobs | sone |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of sob | a subjective unit of loudness for an average listener equal to the loudness of a 1000-hertz sound that has an intensity 40 decibels above the listener's own threshold of hearing |
Where the eye mixes sobs and sone
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between sobs and sone
A purely visual mix-up. sobs (/sɑbz/) and sone (/soʊn/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71602, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sobs is recorded at frequency rank #23,107, classified as anoun, pronounced /sɑbz/. sone is at rank #48,495, tagged as anoun, pronounced /soʊn/.
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 71602, this pair ranks #46,083 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of sobs vs sone
Shared letters: os. Private to "sobs": b. Private to "sone": en.
"sobs" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "sone" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "sobs" and "sone" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "sobs" vs "sone" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "sobs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sone" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #46,083 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sobs" and "sone" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "soca vs sone". 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 #46,083 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.