Which to use
“wages” and “wedges” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,726
- “wages” frequency rank
- #24,953
- “wedges” frequency rank
- 29679
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wages | wedges |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of wage. It may take a singular verb. E.g. 'the wages of sin is death' (Romans 6:23 KJV) | plural of wedge |
Where the eye mixes wages and wedges
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. wages runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against wedges's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: wages vs wedges
A purely visual mix-up. wages (/ˈweɪd͡ʒɪz/) and wedges (/ˈwɛd͡ʒɪz/) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29679, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wages is recorded at frequency rank #4,726, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈweɪd͡ʒɪz/. wedges is at rank #24,953, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈwɛd͡ʒɪz/.
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 29679, this pair ranks #360,946 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of wages vs wedges
Shared letters: egsw. Private to "wages": a. Private to "wedges": d.
"wages" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "wedges" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "wages" and "wedges" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "wages" or "wedges" show up more?
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 "wages" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wedges" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #360,946 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wages" and "wedges" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wedged vs wedges". 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 #360,946 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.