cockedvscombedWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“cocked” and “combed” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#31,479
“cocked” frequency rank
#31,481
“combed” frequency rank
62960
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cocked combed
Definition Drunk. Arranged or groomed with a comb.

Letter map: cocked vs combed

Shared letters muted; letters that set cocked and combed apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.

6 ch
cocked
6 ch
combed

Pair insight - cocked / combed

cocked and combed are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62960, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cocked is recorded at frequency rank #31,479, classified as anadj, pronounced /kɑkt/. combed is at rank #31,481, tagged as anadj.

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 62960, this pair ranks #85,602 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cocked vs combed

Shared letters: cdeo. Private to "cocked": k. Private to "combed": bm.

"cocked" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "combed" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cockedccocked · ccoked · coccked · cocekd · cockde · cockedd · cockked · cokced
  • combedccombed · cmobed · cobmed · combbed · combde · combedd · comebd · commbed

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cocked" for "combed" ever safe?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "cocked" or "combed"?
"cocked" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,479 in our English list, against #31,481 for "combed". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pair "cocked" vs "combed" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cocked" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "combed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #85,602 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cocked" and "combed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cocked vs corker". 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 #85,602 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list