Which to use
“crook” and “crows” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,881
- “crook” frequency rank
- #15,596
- “crows” frequency rank
- 32477
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | crook | crows |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A bend; turn; curve; curvature; a flexure. | plural of crow |
Where the eye mixes crook and crows
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: crook vs crows
A purely visual mix-up. crook (/kɹʊk/) and crows (/kɹəʊz/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32477, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
crook is recorded at frequency rank #16,881, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɹʊk/. crows is at rank #15,596, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɹəʊz/.
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 32477, this pair ranks #337,487 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of crook vs crows
Shared letters: cor. Private to "crook": k. Private to "crows": sw.
"crook" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "crows" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "crook" for "crows" ever safe?
Frequency check: "crook" vs "crows" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "crook" and "crows" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "crook" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "crows" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #337,487 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "crook" and "crows" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Croat vs crook". 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 #337,487 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.