Which to use
“cosy” and “cushy” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,301
- “cosy” frequency rank
- #43,589
- “cushy” frequency rank
- 62890
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cosy | cushy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Affording comfort and warmth; snug; social and comfortable. | Making few demands; comfortable, easy. |
Where the eye mixes cosy and cushy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. cosy runs 4 letters (CVCV) against cushy's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: cosy vs cushy
A purely visual mix-up. cosy (/ˈkəʊzi/) and cushy (/ˈkʊʃi/) 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 62890, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cosy is recorded at frequency rank #19,301, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈkəʊzi/. cushy is at rank #43,589, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈkʊʃi/.
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 62890, this pair ranks #86,015 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cosy vs cushy
Shared letters: csy. Private to "cosy": o. Private to "cushy": hu.
"cosy" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "cushy" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cosy" for "cushy" ever safe?
Frequency check: "cosy" vs "cushy" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cosy" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cushy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #86,015 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cosy" and "cushy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cubby vs cushy". 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 #86,015 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.