Which to use
“thrice” is an adverb and “thrill” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #24,338
- “thrice” frequency rank
- #10,947
- “thrill” frequency rank
- 35285
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | thrice | thrill |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Three times. | To suddenly excite someone, or to give someone great pleasure; to (figuratively) electrify; to experience such a sensation. |
Where the eye mixes thrice and thrill
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. thrice (CCCVCV) and thrill (CCCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses thrice with thrill
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: thrice is /θɹaɪs/ while thrill is /θɹɪl/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35285, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
thrice is recorded at frequency rank #24,338, classified as anadv, pronounced /θɹaɪs/. thrill is at rank #10,947, tagged as averb, pronounced /θɹɪl/.
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 35285, this pair ranks #313,268 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of thrice vs thrill
Shared letters: hirt. Private to "thrice": ce. Private to "thrill": l.
"thrice" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCV · "thrill" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "thrice" for "thrill" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "thrice" or "thrill" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "thrice" and "thrill" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "thrice" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "thrill" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #313,268 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "thrice" and "thrill" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "thicc vs thrice". 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 #313,268 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.