Which to use
“crew” and “crow” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,033
- “crew” frequency rank
- #9,590
- “crow” frequency rank
- 11623
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | crew | crow |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A group of people together | A bird, usually black, of the genus Corvus, having a strong conical beak, with projecting bristles; it has a harsh, croaking call. |
Where the eye mixes crew and crow
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses crew with crow
A purely visual mix-up. crew (/kɹuː/) and crow (/kɹəʊ/) 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 a single letter - e in “crew” becomes o in “crow”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11623, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
crew is recorded at frequency rank #2,033, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɹuː/. crow is at rank #9,590, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɹəʊ/.
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 11623, this pair ranks #486,030 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of crew vs crow
Shared letters: crw. Private to "crew": e. Private to "crow": o.
"crew" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "crow" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "crew" and "crow" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "crew" vs "crow" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "crew" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "crow" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #486,030 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "crew" and "crow" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Croat vs crow". 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 #486,030 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.