Which to use
“cos” and “cusp” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,553
- “cos” frequency rank
- #27,112
- “cusp” frequency rank
- 33665
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cos | cusp |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Synonym of romaine lettuce, a long-leaved variety of lettuce. | A sharp point or pointed end. |
Where the eye mixes cos and cusp
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between cos and cusp
A purely visual mix-up. cos (/kɑs/) and cusp (/kʌsp/) 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 33665, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cos is recorded at frequency rank #6,553, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɑs/. cusp is at rank #27,112, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kʌsp/.
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 33665, this pair ranks #327,439 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cos vs cusp
Shared letters: cs. Private to "cos": o. Private to "cusp": pu.
"cos" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "cusp" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- cusp ← ccusp · csup · cuspp · cussp · ucsp
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cos" for "cusp" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "cos" or "cusp" 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 "cos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cusp" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #327,439 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cos" and "cusp" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cuny vs cusp". 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 #327,439 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.