Which to use
“synapse” and “synapses” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,127
- “synapse” frequency rank
- #35,976
- “synapses” frequency rank
- 75103
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | synapse | synapses |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The junction between the terminal of a neuron and either another neuron or a muscle or gland cell, over which nerve impulses pass. | plural of synapse |
Where the eye mixes synapse and synapses
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: synapse vs synapses
A purely visual mix-up. synapse (/ˈsɪnæps/) and synapses (/ˈsɪnæpsɪz/) 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) - “synapse” sits inside “synapses”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75103, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
synapse is recorded at frequency rank #39,127, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈsɪnæps/. synapses is at rank #35,976, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈsɪnæpsɪz/.
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 75103, this pair ranks #34,187 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of synapse vs synapses
Shared letters: aenpsy. Private to "synapse": -. Private to "synapses": -.
"synapse" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "synapses" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "synapse" and "synapses" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "synapse" or "synapses"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "synapse" and "synapses" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "synapse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "synapses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #34,187 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "synapse" and "synapses" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Snape vs synapse". 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 #34,187 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.