Which to use
“NCIS” is a name and “nuls” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,625
- “NCIS” frequency rank
- #6,533
- “nuls” frequency rank
- 38158
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | NCIS | nuls |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Service des enquêtes criminelles de la marine des États-Unis. | Masculin pluriel de nul. |
Where the eye mixes NCIS and nuls
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses NCIS with nuls
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: NCIS is \ɛn.se.i.ɛs\ while nuls is \nyl\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38158, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
NCIS is recorded at frequency rank #31,625, classified as aname, pronounced \ɛn.se.i.ɛs\. nuls is at rank #6,533, tagged as anadj, pronounced \nyl\.
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 38158, this pair ranks #257,247 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of NCIS vs nuls
Shared letters: ns. Private to "NCIS": ci. Private to "nuls": lu.
"NCIS" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "nuls" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "NCIS" and "nuls" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "NCIS" or "nuls"?
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 "NCIS" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "nuls" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #257,247 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "NCIS" and "nuls" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "NCIS vs nis". 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 #257,247 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.