Which to use
“spas” and “spasm” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #35,526
- “spas” frequency rank
- #35,950
- “spasm” frequency rank
- 71476
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spas | spasm |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of spa | A sudden, involuntary contraction of a muscle, a group of muscles, or a hollow organ. |
Where the eye mixes spas and spasm
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. spas runs 4 letters (CCVC) against spasm's 5 (CCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between spas and spasm
A purely visual mix-up. spas (/spɑːz/) and spasm (/ˈspæz.m̩/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “spas” sits inside “spasm”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71476, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
spas is recorded at frequency rank #35,526, classified as anoun, pronounced /spɑːz/. spasm is at rank #35,950, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈspæz.m̩/.
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 71476, this pair ranks #46,549 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of spas vs spasm
Shared letters: aps. Private to "spas": -. Private to "spasm": m.
"spas" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "spasm" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "spas" and "spasm" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "spas" vs "spasm" - which ranks higher?
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 "spas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "spasm" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #46,549 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "spas" and "spasm" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "spas vs suds". 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 #46,549 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.