Which to use
“crow” and “crowds” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,590
- “crow” frequency rank
- #8,653
- “crowds” frequency rank
- 18243
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | crow | crowds |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A bird, usually black, of the genus Corvus, having a strong conical beak, with projecting bristles; it has a harsh, croaking call. | plural of crowd |
Where the eye mixes crow and crowds
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between crow and crowds
A purely visual mix-up. crow (/kɹəʊ/) and crowds (/kɹaʊdz/) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “crow” sits inside “crowds”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18243, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
crow is recorded at frequency rank #9,590, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɹəʊ/. crowds is at rank #8,653, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɹaʊdz/.
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 18243, this pair ranks #446,168 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of crow vs crowds
Shared letters: corw. Private to "crow": -. Private to "crowds": ds.
"crow" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "crowds" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "crow" and "crowds" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "crow" or "crowds"?
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 "crow" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "crowds" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #446,168 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "crow" and "crowds" 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 #446,168 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.