Which to use
“weight” and “weights” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,036
- “weight” frequency rank
- #8,875
- “weights” frequency rank
- 9911
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | weight | weights |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The downwards force an object experiences due to gravity. | plural of weight |
Where the eye mixes weight and weights
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between weight and weights
A purely visual mix-up. weight (/weɪt/) and weights (/weɪts/) 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 extra letter(s) - “weight” sits inside “weights”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9911, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
weight is recorded at frequency rank #1,036, classified as anoun, pronounced /weɪt/. weights is at rank #8,875, tagged as anoun, pronounced /weɪts/.
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 9911, this pair ranks #494,959 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of weight vs weights
Shared letters: eghitw. Private to "weight": -. Private to "weights": s.
"weight" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCC · "weights" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "weight" for "weights" ever safe?
Which is more common, "weight" or "weights"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "weight" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "weights" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #494,959 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "weight" and "weights" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "weights vs weighty". 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 #494,959 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.