Which to use
“tack” and “tacks” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,973
- “tack” frequency rank
- #43,952
- “tacks” frequency rank
- 61925
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tack | tacks |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A small nail with a flat head. | plural of tack |
Where the eye mixes tack and tacks
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses tack with tacks
A purely visual mix-up. tack (/tæk/) and tacks (/tæks/) 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) - “tack” sits inside “tacks”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61925, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tack is recorded at frequency rank #17,973, classified as anoun, pronounced /tæk/. tacks is at rank #43,952, tagged as anoun, pronounced /tæks/.
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 61925, this pair ranks #91,368 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of tack vs tacks
Shared letters: ackt. Private to "tack": -. Private to "tacks": s.
"tack" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "tacks" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tack" for "tacks" ever safe?
Frequency check: "tack" vs "tacks" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "tack" and "tacks" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "tack" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tacks" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #91,368 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tack" and "tacks" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tacks vs tass". 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 #91,368 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.