farovsfarrowWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“faro” and “farrow” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#47,620
“faro” frequency rank
#31,554
“farrow” frequency rank
79174
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature faro farrow
Definition A game of chance played by betting on the order in which certain cards will appear when taken singly from the top of the pack. A litter of piglets.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set faro and farrow apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
faro
6 ch
farrow

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. faro (/ˈfɛəɹəʊ/) and farrow (/ˈfæɹəʊ/) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 79174, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

faro is recorded at frequency rank #47,620, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈfɛəɹəʊ/. farrow is at rank #31,554, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈfæɹəʊ/.

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 79174, this pair ranks #22,744 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of faro vs farrow

Shared letters: afor. Private to "faro": -. Private to "farrow": w.

"faro" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "farrow" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • faroafro · faor · farro · ffaro · frao
  • farrowafrrow · farorw · farow · farroww · farrwo · ffarrow · frarow

Frequency comparison

faro#47,620
farrow#31,554

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "faro" and "farrow" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈfɛəɹəʊ/ versus /ˈfæɹəʊ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "faro" or "farrow"?
"farrow" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,554 in our English list, against #47,620 for "faro". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering faro vs farrow

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “faro” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list