Which to use
“terrorist” and “terrorists” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,987
- “terrorist” frequency rank
- #5,167
- “terrorists” frequency rank
- 9154
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | terrorist | terrorists |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A person, group, or organization that uses violent action, or the threat of violent action, to further political goals. | plural of terrorist |
Where the eye mixes terrorist and terrorists
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between terrorist and terrorists
A purely visual mix-up. terrorist (/ˈtɛɹəɹɪst/) and terrorists (/ˈtɛɹɚɪsts/) 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) - “terrorist” sits inside “terrorists”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9154, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
terrorist is recorded at frequency rank #3,987, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈtɛɹəɹɪst/. terrorists is at rank #5,167, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈtɛɹɚɪsts/.
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 9154, this pair ranks #498,826 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of terrorist vs terrorists
Shared letters: eiorst. Private to "terrorist": -. Private to "terrorists": -.
"terrorist" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCC · "terrorists" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- terrorist ← etrrorist · terorist · terorrist · terroirst · terrorisst · terroristt · terrorits · terrorrist
- terrorists ← etrrorists · terorists · terorrists · terroirsts · terrorissts · terroristss · terroristts · terroritss
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "terrorist" for "terrorists" ever safe?
Frequency check: "terrorist" vs "terrorists" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "terrorist" and "terrorists" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "terrorist" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "terrorists" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #498,826 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "terrorist" and "terrorists" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "terrorist vs terrorize". 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 #498,826 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.