Which to use
“washes” and “wastes” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,737
- “washes” frequency rank
- #18,215
- “wastes” frequency rank
- 37952
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | washes | wastes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of wash | plural of waste |
Where the eye mixes washes and wastes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. washes and wastes follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses washes with wastes
A purely visual mix-up. washes (/ˈwɒʃ.ɪz/) and wastes (/weɪsts/) 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 - h in “washes” becomes t in “wastes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37952, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
washes is recorded at frequency rank #19,737, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈwɒʃ.ɪz/. wastes is at rank #18,215, tagged as anoun, pronounced /weɪsts/.
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 37952, this pair ranks #290,094 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of washes vs wastes
Shared letters: aesw. Private to "washes": h. Private to "wastes": t.
"washes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "wastes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "washes" for "wastes" ever safe?
Which is more common, "washes" or "wastes"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "washes" and "wastes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "washes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wastes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #290,094 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "washes" and "wastes" 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 #290,094 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.