aghvsarghWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“agh” and “argh” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#44,044
“agh” frequency rank
#30,689
“argh” frequency rank
74733
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature agh argh
Definition An exclamation of mild horror, disgust or frustration Expressing annoyance, dismay, embarrassment or frustration.

Where the eye mixes agh and argh

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

3 ch
agh
4 ch
argh

Visual trap between agh and argh

A purely visual mix-up. agh ([æː(x)]) and argh (/ɑː(ɹ)(ɡ)/) 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 74733, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

agh is recorded at frequency rank #44,044, classified as anintj, pronounced [æː(x)]. argh is at rank #30,689, tagged as anintj, pronounced /ɑː(ɹ)(ɡ)/.

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 74733, this pair ranks #35,383 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of agh vs argh

Shared letters: agh. Private to "agh": -. Private to "argh": r.

"agh" · 3 letters · shape VCC  ·  "argh" · 4 letters · shape VCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • arghagrh · arggh · arghh · arhg · arrgh · ragh

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "agh" and "argh" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([æː(x)] versus /ɑː(ɹ)(ɡ)/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "agh" vs "argh" - which ranks higher?
"argh" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,689 in our English list, against #44,044 for "agh". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "agh" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "argh" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #35,383 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "agh" and "argh" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "agh vs amb". 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 #35,383 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list