Which to use
“cog” and “cox” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #28,496
- “cog” frequency rank
- #7,783
- “cox” frequency rank
- 36279
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cog | cox |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A tooth on a gear. | A coxswain of a boat, especially of a racing crew. |
Where the eye mixes cog and cox
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: cog vs cox
A purely visual mix-up. cog (/kɒɡ/) and cox (/kɒks/) 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 a single letter - g in “cog” becomes x in “cox”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36279, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cog is recorded at frequency rank #28,496, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɒɡ/. cox is at rank #7,783, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɒks/.
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 36279, this pair ranks #304,483 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cog vs cox
Shared letters: co. Private to "cog": g. Private to "cox": x.
"cog" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "cox" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cog" and "cox" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "cog" or "cox"?
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 "cog" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cox" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #304,483 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cog" and "cox" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CGT vs cog". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #304,483 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.