Which to use
“come” is a verb and “coy” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #161
- “come” frequency rank
- #25,336
- “coy” frequency rank
- 25497
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | come | coy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To move nearer to the point of perspective. | Bashful, shy, retiring. |
Where the eye mixes come and coy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses come with coy
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: come is /kʌm/ while coy is /kɔɪ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25497, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
come is recorded at frequency rank #161, classified as averb, pronounced /kʌm/. coy is at rank #25,336, tagged as anadj, pronounced /kɔɪ/.
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 25497, this pair ranks #393,838 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of come vs coy
Shared letters: co. Private to "come": em. Private to "coy": y.
"come" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "coy" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- come ← ccome · cmoe · coem · comme · ocme
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "come" and "coy" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "come" vs "coy" - 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 "come" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "coy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #393,838 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "come" and "coy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CGT vs coy". 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 #393,838 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.