Which to use
“cords” and “corn” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,281
- “cords” frequency rank
- #5,206
- “corn” frequency rank
- 23487
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cords | corn |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of cord | Any cereal plant (or its grain) that is the main crop or staple of a country or region. |
Where the eye mixes cords and corn
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses cords with corn
A purely visual mix-up. cords (/kɔːdz/) and corn (/ˈkɔːn/) 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 23487, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cords is recorded at frequency rank #18,281, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɔːdz/. corn is at rank #5,206, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɔːn/.
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 23487, this pair ranks #408,899 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cords vs corn
Shared letters: cor. Private to "cords": ds. Private to "corn": n.
"cords" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "corn" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cords" for "corn" ever safe?
Which is more common, "cords" or "corn"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "cords" and "corn" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "cords" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "corn" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #408,899 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cords" and "corn" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coms vs cords". 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 #408,899 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.