Which to use
“cog” and “cup” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #28,496
- “cog” frequency rank
- #805
- “cup” frequency rank
- 29301
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cog | cup |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A tooth on a gear. | A concave vessel for drinking, usually made of opaque material (as opposed to a glass) and with a handle. |
Where the eye mixes cog and cup
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between cog and cup
A purely visual mix-up. cog (/kɒɡ/) and cup (/kʌp/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29301, 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/. cup is at rank #805, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kʌp/.
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 29301, this pair ranks #364,089 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cog vs cup
Shared letters: c. Private to "cog": go. Private to "cup": pu.
"cog" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "cup" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cog" for "cup" ever safe?
Frequency check: "cog" vs "cup" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "cog" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cup" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #364,089 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cog" and "cup" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CGT vs cog". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #364,089 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.