Which to use
“Thomas” and “thymus” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,544
- “Thomas” frequency rank
- #48,528
- “thymus” frequency rank
- 50072
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Thomas | thymus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An infidel or doubter. | Ellipsis of thymus gland (“A ductless gland, consisting mainly of lymphatic tissue, located behind the top of the breastbone. It is most active during puberty, after which it shrinks in size. It plays an important role in the development of the immune system and produces lymphocytes.”). |
Where the eye mixes Thomas and thymus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Thomas with thymus
A purely visual mix-up. Thomas (/ˈtɒm.əs/) and thymus (/ˈθaɪ.məs/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50072, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Thomas is recorded at frequency rank #1,544, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈtɒm.əs/. thymus is at rank #48,528, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈθaɪ.məs/.
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 50072, this pair ranks #177,617 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Thomas vs thymus
Shared letters: hmst. Private to "Thomas": ao. Private to "thymus": uy.
"Thomas" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "thymus" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Thomas" for "thymus" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Thomas" or "thymus"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Thomas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "thymus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #177,617 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Thomas" and "thymus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "thyme vs thymus". 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 #177,617 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.