Which to use
“spoon” is a noun and “spoons” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,611
- “spoon” frequency rank
- #20,232
- “spoons” frequency rank
- 28843
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spoon | spoons |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An implement for eating or serving; a scooped utensil whose long handle is straight, in contrast to a ladle. | Foolishly infatuated with; having a romantic crush on (used with on). |
Where the eye mixes spoon and spoons
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between spoon and spoons
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: spoon is /spuːn/ while spoons is /spuːnz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “spoon” sits inside “spoons”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28843, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
spoon is recorded at frequency rank #8,611, classified as anoun, pronounced /spuːn/. spoons is at rank #20,232, tagged as anadj, pronounced /spuːnz/.
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 28843, this pair ranks #367,849 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of spoon vs spoons
Shared letters: nops. Private to "spoon": -. Private to "spoons": -.
"spoon" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "spoons" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "spoon" and "spoons" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "spoon" vs "spoons" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "spoon" and "spoons" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "spoon" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "spoons" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #367,849 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "spoon" and "spoons" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "spoons vs Symons". 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 #367,849 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.