Which to use
“worker” and “workmen” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,461
- “worker” frequency rank
- #32,252
- “workmen” frequency rank
- 35713
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | worker | workmen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | One who works: a person who performs labor for a living; traditionally, especially, manual labor. | plural of workman |
Where the eye mixes worker and workmen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between worker and workmen
A purely visual mix-up. worker (/ˈwɜː.kə/) and workmen (/ˈwɝkmən/) 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 35713, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
worker is recorded at frequency rank #3,461, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈwɜː.kə/. workmen is at rank #32,252, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈwɝkmən/.
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 35713, this pair ranks #309,546 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of worker vs workmen
Shared letters: ekorw. Private to "worker": -. Private to "workmen": mn.
"worker" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "workmen" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "worker" for "workmen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "worker" vs "workmen" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "worker" and "workmen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "worker" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "workmen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #309,546 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "worker" and "workmen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "workman vs workmen". 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 #309,546 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.