Which to use
“cue” and “queue” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,351
- “cue” frequency rank
- #9,946
- “queue” frequency rank
- 20297
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cue | queue |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The name of the Latin script letter Q/q. | A line of people, vehicles or other objects, usually one to be dealt with in sequence (i.e., the one at the front end is dealt with first, the one behind is dealt with next, and so on), and which newcomers join at the opposite end (the back). |
Same sound, different letters: cue vs queue
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 2 letters.
Same sound, different spelling - cue / queue
This is the hard kind. cue and queue are pronounced identically (/ˈkjuː/) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20297, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cue is recorded at frequency rank #10,351, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkjuː/. queue is at rank #9,946, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kjuː/.
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 20297, this pair ranks #432,101 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cue vs queue
Shared letters: eu. Private to "cue": c. Private to "queue": q.
"cue" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "queue" · 5 letters · shape CVVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- queue ← qeuue · qqueue · queeu · quuee · uqeue
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cue" and "queue" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "cue" vs "queue" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
"cue" and "queue" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "cue" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "queue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #432,101 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cue" and "queue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CGT vs cue". 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 #432,101 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.