Which to use
“cow” is a noun and “cower” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,670
- “cow” frequency rank
- #49,846
- “cower” frequency rank
- 55516
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cow | cower |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An adult female of the species Bos taurus, especially one that has calved. | To crouch or cringe, or to avoid or shy away from something, in fear. |
Where the eye mixes cow and cower
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cow is /kaʊ/ while cower is /ˈkaʊɚ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “cow” sits inside “cower”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55516, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cow is recorded at frequency rank #5,670, classified as anoun, pronounced /kaʊ/. cower is at rank #49,846, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈkaʊɚ/.
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 55516, this pair ranks #133,070 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cow vs cower
Shared letters: cow. Private to "cow": -. Private to "cower": er.
"cow" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "cower" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- cower ← ccower · coewr · cowerr · cowre · cowwer · cwoer · ocwer
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cow" and "cower" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "cow" or "cower"?
What to do next
You've compared "cow" and "cower". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "cow" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cower" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #133,070 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cow" and "cower" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cower vs Cowper". 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
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.