Which to use
“weakest” is an adjective and “weakness” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,271
- “weakest” frequency rank
- #5,282
- “weakness” frequency rank
- 18553
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | weakest | weakness |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | superlative form of weak: most weak | The condition of being weak. |
Where the eye mixes weakest and weakness
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: weakest vs weakness
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: weakest is /ˈwiːkɪst/ while weakness is /ˈwiːk.nɪs/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18553, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
weakest is recorded at frequency rank #13,271, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈwiːkɪst/. weakness is at rank #5,282, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈwiːk.nɪs/.
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 18553, this pair ranks #444,123 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of weakest vs weakness
Shared letters: aeksw. Private to "weakest": t. Private to "weakness": n.
"weakest" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC · "weakness" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "weakest" and "weakness" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "weakest" or "weakness"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "weakest" and "weakness" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "weakest" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "weakness" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #444,123 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "weakest" and "weakness" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "weakness vs wetness". 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 #444,123 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.