Which to use
“cos” is an abbrev and “cost” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #29,065
- “cos” frequency rank
- #27,668
- “cost” frequency rank
- 56733
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cos | cost |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Kosinus | Kosten |
Letter map: cos vs cost
Shared letters muted; letters that set cos and cost apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.
Role in the sentence - cos and cost
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: cos is anabbrev and costanoun. On the page they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “cos” sits inside “cost”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56733, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cos is recorded at frequency rank #29,065, classified as anabbrev. cost is at rank #27,668, tagged as anoun, pronounced […].
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 56733, this pair ranks #928,746 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cos vs cost
Shared letters: cos. Private to "cos": -. Private to "cost": t.
"cos" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "cost" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- cost ← ccost · cosst · costt · cots · csot · ocst
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cos" and "cost" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "cos" vs "cost" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "cos" and "cost".
- Full dictionary entry for "cos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cost" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #928,746 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cos" and "cost" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CCS vs cos". 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 #928,746 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.