Which to use
“copy” and “cos” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,752
- “copy” frequency rank
- #6,553
- “cos” frequency rank
- 8305
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | copy | cos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The result of copying; an identical or nearly identical duplicate of an original. | Synonym of romaine lettuce, a long-leaved variety of lettuce. |
Where the eye mixes copy and cos
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: copy vs cos
A purely visual mix-up. copy (/ˈkɒpi/) and cos (/kɑs/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8305, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
copy is recorded at frequency rank #1,752, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɒpi/. cos is at rank #6,553, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɑs/.
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 8305, this pair ranks #503,159 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of copy vs cos
Shared letters: co. Private to "copy": py. Private to "cos": s.
"copy" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "cos" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- copy ← ccopy · coppy · copyy · coyp · cpoy · ocpy
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "copy" and "cos" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "copy" or "cos" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "copy" and "cos" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "copy" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #503,159 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "copy" and "cos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CGT vs cos". 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 #503,159 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.