Which to use
“aw” is an intj and “away” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,760
- “aw” frequency rank
- #214
- “away” frequency rank
- 5974
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | aw | away |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Used to express disappointment or dismay. | From a place, hence. |
Where the eye mixes aw and away
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: aw vs away
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: aw is /ɔː/ while away is /əˈweɪ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “aw” sits inside “away”, and the parts of speech differ too (intj vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5974, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
aw is recorded at frequency rank #5,760, classified as anintj, pronounced /ɔː/. away is at rank #214, tagged as anadv, pronounced /əˈweɪ/.
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 5974, this pair ranks #513,294 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of aw vs away
Shared letters: aw. Private to "aw": -. Private to "away": y.
"aw" · 2 letters · shape VC · "away" · 4 letters · shape VCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- away ← aawy · awayy · awway · awya · waay
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "aw" for "away" ever safe?
Frequency check: "aw" vs "away" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "aw" and "away" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "aw" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "away" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #513,294 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "aw" and "away" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "amb vs aw". 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 #513,294 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.