Which to use
“states” and “status” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #282
- “states” frequency rank
- #1,439
- “status” frequency rank
- 1721
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | states | status |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of state | A person’s condition, position or standing relative to that of others. |
Where the eye mixes states and status
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. states (/steɪts/) and status (/ˈsteɪ.təs/) 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 a single letter - e in “states” becomes u in “status”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1721, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
states is recorded at frequency rank #282, classified as anoun, pronounced /steɪts/. status is at rank #1,439, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈsteɪ.təs/.
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 1721, this pair ranks #526,803 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of states vs status
Shared letters: ast. Private to "states": e. Private to "status": u.
"states" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "status" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC