Which to use
“cords” and “corpse” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,281
- “cords” frequency rank
- #10,184
- “corpse” frequency rank
- 28465
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cords | corpse |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of cord | A dead body, especially that of a human as opposed to an animal. |
Where the eye mixes cords and corpse
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses cords with corpse
A purely visual mix-up. cords (/kɔːdz/) and corpse (/kɔːps/) 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 28465, 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/. corpse is at rank #10,184, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɔːps/.
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 28465, this pair ranks #370,872 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cords vs corpse
Shared letters: cors. Private to "cords": d. Private to "corpse": ep.
"cords" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "corpse" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cords" and "corpse" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "cords" vs "corpse" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cords" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "corpse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #370,872 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cords" and "corpse" 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 #370,872 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.