Which to use
“coarse” is an adjective and “coast” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #16,865
- “coarse” frequency rank
- #1,420
- “coast” frequency rank
- 18285
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | coarse | coast |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | With a rough texture; not smooth. | The edge of the land where it meets an ocean, sea, gulf, bay, or large lake. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set coarse and coast apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
coarse and coast form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18285, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
coarse is recorded at frequency rank #16,865, classified as anadj, pronounced /kɔːs/. 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 18285, this pair ranks #445,905 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "coarse" and "coast" be used interchangeably?
Remembering coarse vs coast
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “coarse”; for a noun, it's “coast”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “coarse” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable