Which to use
“cobra” and “coma” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,721
- “cobra” frequency rank
- #10,514
- “coma” frequency rank
- 25235
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cobra | coma |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Any of various venomous snakes of the genus Naja. | A state of unconsciousness from which one may not wake up, usually induced by some form of trauma. |
Where the eye mixes cobra and coma
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between cobra and coma
A purely visual mix-up. cobra (/ˈkəʊbɹə/) and coma (/ˈkəʊmə/) 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 25235, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cobra is recorded at frequency rank #14,721, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkəʊbɹə/. coma is at rank #10,514, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkəʊmə/.
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 25235, this pair ranks #395,877 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cobra vs coma
Shared letters: aco. Private to "cobra": br. Private to "coma": m.
"cobra" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "coma" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cobra" and "coma" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "cobra" or "coma"?
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 "cobra" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "coma" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #395,877 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cobra" and "coma" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Cobham vs cobra". 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 #395,877 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.