SpearsvsSpursWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“Spears” and “Spurs” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#11,973
“Spears” frequency rank
#7,182
“Spurs” frequency rank
19155
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Spears Spurs
Definition An English surname transferred from the nickname. Tottenham Hotspur Football Club

Letter map: Spears vs Spurs

Shared letters muted; letters that set Spears and Spurs apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.

6 ch
Spears
5 ch
Spurs

Corpus notes: Spears and Spurs

Spears and Spurs are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19155, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Spears is recorded at frequency rank #11,973, classified as aname. Spurs is at rank #7,182, tagged as aname, pronounced /spɜː(ɹ)z/.

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 19155, this pair ranks #440,132 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Spears vs Spurs

Shared letters: prs. Private to "Spears": ae. Private to "Spurs": u.

"Spears" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC  ·  "Spurs" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Spearspsears · separs · spaers · spearrs · spearss · speasr · speras · sppears
  • Spurspsurs · sppurs · sprus · spurrs · spurss · spusr · sspurs · suprs

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Spears" and "Spurs" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "Spears" vs "Spurs" - which ranks higher?
"Spurs" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,182 in our English list, against #11,973 for "Spears". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pair "Spears" vs "Spurs" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Spears" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Spurs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #440,132 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Spears" and "Spurs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Spurs vs sura". 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 #440,132 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list