polices

/pəˈliːsɪz/

//pəˈliːsɪz// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"polices" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“polices” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #42,829. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#42,829
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
10
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - plural of police (“police officer”)

Corpus desk

Index EN-polices · polices · English

polices · rank #42,829 · 10 variants · 10 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #42,829
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 10 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH poach

Nearest frequency peer: poach (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “polices”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “polices” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

polices vs policy
71% similar
polices vs prices
71% similar
polices vs polite
71% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for polices
PropertyValue
Headwordpolices
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/pəˈliːsɪz/
Letters7
Frequency rank#42,829
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs10
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “polices”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).policeslands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “poach” (#42,828), “pontifical” (#42,831), “Pliocene” (#42,826). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “polices” is #42,829. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around polices (IPA /pəˈliːsɪz/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #42,829 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Dominant gloss: "plural of police (“police officer”)".

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for polices, with forms such as "oplices", "ploices", and "poilces". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 10 confusable-pair relationships, "policy", "prices", "polite", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From police + -s. The correct English form is polices, spelled P-O-L-I-C-E-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    plural of police (“police officer”)

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how polices appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. I saw three polices standing there, so I didn't try anything stupid.

Etymology

From police + -s.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • oplices
  • ploices
  • poilces
  • polcies
  • policces
  • policess
  • policse
  • poliecs
  • pollices
  • ppolices

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of polices - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

oplices2ploices2poilces2polcies2policces1policess1policse2poliecs2
Edit distance from "polices"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "polices"?
"polices" is spelled P-O-L-I-C-E-S. The IPA pronunciation is /pəˈliːsɪz/.
What does "polices" mean?
As a noun, "polices" means: plural of police (“police officer”)
What words are commonly confused with "polices"?
"polices" is commonly confused with "policy", "prices", "polite". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "polices"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "polices" is /pəˈliːsɪz/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "polices"?
From police + -s. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "polices", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

pleaser#42,825plasmid#42,823padlock#42,806Ribeiro#42,866

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

Prosecco10 variantsnaively10 variantsmegawatt10 variantsMannheim10 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list