Which to use
“tomb” is a noun and “Tombs” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,495
- “tomb” frequency rank
- #18,718
- “Tombs” frequency rank
- 27213
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tomb | Tombs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A small building, or a room within one, for the remains of the dead, with walls, a roof, and (if it is to be used for more than one corpse) a door. It may be partly or wholly in the ground (except for its entrance) in a cemetery, or it may be inside a church proper or in its crypt. Single tombs may be permanently sealed; those for families (or other groups) have doors for access whenever needed. | A surname originating as a patronymic. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tomb and Tombs apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
tomb and Tombs form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “tomb” sits inside “Tombs” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27213, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tomb is recorded at frequency rank #8,495, classified as anoun, pronounced /tuːm/. Tombs is at rank #18,718, tagged as aname.
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 27213, this pair ranks #380,669 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "tomb" and "Tombs" be used interchangeably?
Remembering tomb vs Tombs
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “tomb”; for a name, it's “Tombs”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “tomb” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable