Which to use
“whine” and “whites” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,267
- “whine” frequency rank
- #6,536
- “whites” frequency rank
- 26803
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | whine | whites |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A long-drawn, high-pitched complaining cry or sound. | plural of white |
Where the eye mixes whine and whites
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. whine runs 5 letters (CCVCV) against whites's 6 (CCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between whine and whites
A purely visual mix-up. whine (/waɪn/) and whites (/(h)waɪts/) 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 26803, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
whine is recorded at frequency rank #20,267, classified as anoun, pronounced /waɪn/. whites is at rank #6,536, tagged as anoun, pronounced /(h)waɪts/.
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 26803, this pair ranks #383,968 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of whine vs whites
Shared letters: ehiw. Private to "whine": n. Private to "whites": st.
"whine" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "whites" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "whine" for "whites" ever safe?
Frequency check: "whine" vs "whites" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "whine" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "whites" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #383,968 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "whine" and "whites" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "whine vs whined". 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 #383,968 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.