Which to use
“come” and “cost” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #161
- “come” frequency rank
- #568
- “cost” frequency rank
- 729
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | come | cost |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To move nearer to the point of perspective. | To incur a charge of; to require payment of a (specified) price. |
Where the eye mixes come and cost
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. come (/kʌm/) and cost (/ˈkɒst/) 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 729, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
come is recorded at frequency rank #161, classified as averb, pronounced /kʌm/. cost is at rank #568, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈkɒst/.
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 729, this pair ranks #528,904 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of come vs cost
Shared letters: co. Private to "come": em. Private to "cost": st.
"come" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "cost" · 4 letters · shape CVCC