Which to use
“Collins” is a name and “cousins” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,585
- “Collins” frequency rank
- #7,669
- “cousins” frequency rank
- 13254
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Collins | cousins |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An English surname originating as a patronymic from the given name Colin. | The American intelligence services (from a British perspective) or the British intelligence services (from an American perspective). |
Where the eye mixes Collins and cousins
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: Collins vs cousins
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Collins is /ˈkɑlɪnz/ while cousins is /ˈkʌzn̩s/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13254, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Collins is recorded at frequency rank #5,585, classified as aname, pronounced /ˈkɑlɪnz/. cousins is at rank #7,669, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkʌzn̩s/.
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 13254, this pair ranks #476,863 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Collins vs cousins
Shared letters: cinos. Private to "Collins": l. Private to "cousins": u.
"Collins" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "cousins" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Collins" and "cousins" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "Collins" or "cousins" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Collins" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cousins" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #476,863 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Collins" and "cousins" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coursing vs cousins". 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 #476,863 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.