Which to use
“catty” is an adjective and “cavity” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #49,246
- “catty” frequency rank
- #12,740
- “cavity” frequency rank
- 61986
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | catty | cavity |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | With subtle hostility in an effort to hurt, annoy, or upset, particularly among women. | A hole or hollow depression in a solid object. |
Where the eye mixes catty and cavity
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. catty runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against cavity's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: catty vs cavity
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: catty is /ˈkæti/ while cavity is /ˈkæv.ɪt.i/. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61986, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
catty is recorded at frequency rank #49,246, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈkæti/. cavity is at rank #12,740, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkæv.ɪt.i/.
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 61986, this pair ranks #91,018 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of catty vs cavity
Shared letters: acty. Private to "catty": -. Private to "cavity": iv.
"catty" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "cavity" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "catty" and "cavity" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "catty" or "cavity"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "catty" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cavity" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #91,018 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "catty" and "cavity" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cates vs catty". 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 #91,018 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.