Which to use
“victim” and “victims” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,708
- “victim” frequency rank
- #2,709
- “victims” frequency rank
- 5417
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | victim | victims |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | One that is harmed—killed, injured, subjected to oppression, deceit, or otherwise adversely affected—by someone or something, especially another person or event, force, or condition; in particular | plural of victim |
Where the eye mixes victim and victims
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. victim runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against victims's 7 (CVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses victim with victims
A purely visual mix-up. victim (/ˈvɪktɪm/) and victims (/ˈvɪktɪmz/) 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) - “victim” sits inside “victims”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5417, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
victim is recorded at frequency rank #2,708, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈvɪktɪm/. victims is at rank #2,709, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈvɪktɪmz/.
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 5417, this pair ranks #515,410 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of victim vs victims
Shared letters: cimtv. Private to "victim": -. Private to "victims": s.
"victim" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "victims" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "victim" and "victims" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "victim" or "victims" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "victim" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "victims" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #515,410 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "victim" and "victims" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Vicki vs victim". 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 #515,410 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.