Which to use
“cues” and “queues” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,305
- “cues” frequency rank
- #22,190
- “queues” frequency rank
- 36495
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cues | queues |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of cue | plural of queue |
Same sound, different letters: cues vs queues
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 3 letters. cues runs 4 letters (CVVC) against queues's 6 (CVVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Ear matches; page differs - cues and queues
This is the hard kind. cues and queues are pronounced identically (/ˈkjuːz/) 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 36495, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cues is recorded at frequency rank #14,305, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkjuːz/. queues is at rank #22,190, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kjuːz/.
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 36495, this pair ranks #302,717 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cues vs queues
Shared letters: esu. Private to "cues": c. Private to "queues": q.
"cues" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "queues" · 6 letters · shape CVVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cues" and "queues" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "cues" or "queues" show up more?
Useful next steps
You've separated the homophone pair "cues" / "queues". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "cues" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "queues" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #302,717 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cues" and "queues" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cues vs cuny". 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 #302,717 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.