swigvsSwimsTell them apart

Quick tell: swig is a verb, Swims is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“swig” is a verb and “Swims” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#46,803
“swig” frequency rank
#28,748
“Swims” frequency rank
75551
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature swig Swims
Definition To drink (usually by gulping or in a greedy or unrefined manner); to quaff. A surname.

Letter map: swig vs Swims

Shared letters muted; letters that set swig and Swims apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. swig runs 4 letters (CCVC) against Swims's 5 (CCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
swig
5 ch
Swims

Role in the sentence - swig and Swims

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: swig is averb and Swimsaname. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75551, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

swig is recorded at frequency rank #46,803, classified as averb, pronounced /swɪɡ/. Swims is at rank #28,748, tagged as aname.

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 75551, this pair ranks #32,765 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of swig vs Swims

Shared letters: isw. Private to "swig": g. Private to "Swims": m.

"swig" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "Swims" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • swigsiwg · sswig · swgi · swigg · swwig · wsig
  • Swimssiwms · sswims · swimms · swimss · swism · swmis · swwims · wsims

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "swig" for "Swims" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "swig" is a verb and "Swims" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "swig" or "Swims"?
"Swims" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,748 in our English list, against #46,803 for "swig". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "swig" and "Swims".

  • Full dictionary entry for "swig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Swims" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #32,765 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "swig" and "Swims" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sif vs swig". 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 #32,765 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