Which to use
“temple” and “temples” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,339
- “temple” frequency rank
- #11,308
- “temples” frequency rank
- 14647
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | temple | temples |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A house of worship, especially: | plural of temple |
Where the eye mixes temple and temples
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between temple and temples
A purely visual mix-up. temple (/ˈtɛm.pl̩/) and temples (/ˈtɛmpl̩z/) 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) - “temple” sits inside “temples”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14647, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
temple is recorded at frequency rank #3,339, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈtɛm.pl̩/. temples is at rank #11,308, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈtɛmpl̩z/.
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 14647, this pair ranks #468,787 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of temple vs temples
Shared letters: elmpt. Private to "temple": -. Private to "temples": s.
"temple" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "temples" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "temple" for "temples" ever safe?
Frequency check: "temple" vs "temples" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "temple" and "temples" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "temple" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "temples" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #468,787 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "temple" and "temples" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tamales vs temples". 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 #468,787 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.