Which to use
“cast” is a verb and “coast” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,686
- “cast” frequency rank
- #1,420
- “coast” frequency rank
- 3106
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cast | coast |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To move, or be moved, away. | The edge of the land where it meets an ocean, sea, gulf, bay, or large lake. |
Where the eye mixes cast and coast
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cast is /kɑːst/ while coast is /kəʊst/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3106, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cast is recorded at frequency rank #1,686, classified as averb, pronounced /kɑːst/. coast is at rank #1,420, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kəʊst/.
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 3106, this pair ranks #523,086 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cast vs coast
Shared letters: acst. Private to "cast": -. Private to "coast": o.
"cast" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "coast" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC