Which to use
“flows” and “frowns” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,682
- “flows” frequency rank
- #42,142
- “frowns” frequency rank
- 47824
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | flows | frowns |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of flow | plural of frown |
Where the eye mixes flows and frowns
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses flows with frowns
A purely visual mix-up. flows (/fləʊz/) and frowns (/fɹaʊnz/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47824, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
flows is recorded at frequency rank #5,682, classified as anoun, pronounced /fləʊz/. frowns is at rank #42,142, tagged as anoun, pronounced /fɹaʊnz/.
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 47824, this pair ranks #198,868 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of flows vs frowns
Shared letters: fosw. Private to "flows": l. Private to "frowns": nr.
"flows" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "frowns" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "flows" and "frowns" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "flows" or "frowns" show up more?
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 "flows" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "frowns" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #198,868 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "flows" and "frowns" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Frans vs frowns". 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 #198,868 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.