Which to use
“words” and “works” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #566
- “words” frequency rank
- #522
- “works” frequency rank
- 1088
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | words | works |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of word | plural of work in its countable senses |
Where the eye mixes words and works
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. words (/wɜːdz/) and works (/wɜːks/) 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 - d in “words” becomes k in “works”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1088, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
words is recorded at frequency rank #566, classified as anoun, pronounced /wɜːdz/. works is at rank #522, tagged as anoun, pronounced /wɜːks/.
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 1088, this pair ranks #528,123 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of words vs works
Shared letters: orsw. Private to "words": d. Private to "works": k.
"words" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "works" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC