Which to use
“washer” and “washes” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,734
- “washer” frequency rank
- #19,737
- “washes” frequency rank
- 38471
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | washer | washes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Something that washes; especially an appliance such as a washing machine or dishwasher. | plural of wash |
Where the eye mixes washer and washes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: washer vs washes
A purely visual mix-up. washer (/ˈwɒʃə(ɹ)/) and washes (/ˈwɒʃ.ɪz/) 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 a single letter - r in “washer” becomes s in “washes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38471, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
washer is recorded at frequency rank #18,734, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈwɒʃə(ɹ)/. washes is at rank #19,737, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈwɒʃ.ɪz/.
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 38471, this pair ranks #285,604 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of washer vs washes
Shared letters: aehsw. Private to "washer": r. Private to "washes": -.
"washer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "washes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "washer" for "washes" ever safe?
Which is more common, "washer" or "washes"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "washer" and "washes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "washer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "washes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #285,604 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "washer" and "washes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "washes vs washy". 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 #285,604 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.