wagersvswagesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“wagers” and “wages” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#40,963
“wagers” frequency rank
#4,726
“wages” frequency rank
45689
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wagers wages
Definition plural of wager plural of wage. It may take a singular verb. E.g. 'the wages of sin is death' (Romans 6:23 KJV)

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set wagers and wages apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
wagers
5 ch
wages

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

wagers and wages are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45689, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wagers is recorded at frequency rank #40,963, classified as anoun. wages is at rank #4,726, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈweɪd͡ʒɪz/.

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 45689, this pair ranks #218,893 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of wagers vs wages

Shared letters: aegsw. Private to "wagers": r. Private to "wages": -.

"wagers" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "wages" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wagersawgers · waegrs · wagerrs · wagerss · wagesr · waggers · wagres · wgaers
  • wagesawges · waegs · wagess · wagges · wagse · wgaes · wwages

Frequency comparison

wagers#40,963
wages#4,726

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wagers" and "wages" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "wagers" or "wages"?
"wages" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,726 in our English list, against #40,963 for "wagers". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering wagers vs wages

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “wagers” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list