Which to use
“common” is an adjective and “cordon” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #631
- “common” frequency rank
- #24,126
- “cordon” frequency rank
- 24757
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | common | cordon |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Mutual; shared by more than one. | A ribbon normally worn diagonally across the chest as a decoration or insignia of rank etc. |
Where the eye mixes common and cordon
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: common vs cordon
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: common is /ˈkɒm.ən/ while cordon is /ˈkɔː(ɹ)dən/. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24757, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
common is recorded at frequency rank #631, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈkɒm.ən/. cordon is at rank #24,126, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɔː(ɹ)dən/.
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 24757, this pair ranks #399,549 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of common vs cordon
Shared letters: cno. Private to "common": m. Private to "cordon": dr.
"common" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "cordon" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "common" and "cordon" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "common" or "cordon" 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 "common" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cordon" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #399,549 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "common" and "cordon" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Colson vs cordon". 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 #399,549 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.