Which to use
“wipe” is a verb and “wives” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,086
- “wipe” frequency rank
- #6,318
- “wives” frequency rank
- 13404
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wipe | wives |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To move an object over, maintaining contact, with the intention of removing some substance from the surface. (Compare rub.) | plural of wife |
Where the eye mixes wipe and wives
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between wipe and wives
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wipe is /waɪp/ while wives is /waɪvz/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13404, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wipe is recorded at frequency rank #7,086, classified as averb, pronounced /waɪp/. wives is at rank #6,318, tagged as anoun, pronounced /waɪvz/.
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 13404, this pair ranks #476,020 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of wipe vs wives
Shared letters: eiw. Private to "wipe": p. Private to "wives": sv.
"wipe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "wives" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "wipe" and "wives" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "wipe" vs "wives" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "wipe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wives" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #476,020 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wipe" and "wives" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wipe vs wove". 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 #476,020 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.