Which to use
“furrow” is a noun and “furry” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #48,758
- “furrow” frequency rank
- #13,727
- “furry” frequency rank
- 62485
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | furrow | furry |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Any trench, channel, or groove; often found on wood or metal. | Covered with fur, or with something resembling fur. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set furrow and furry apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: furrow is /ˈfʌɹoʊ/ while furry is /ˈfɜː.ɹi/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62485, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
furrow is recorded at frequency rank #48,758, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈfʌɹoʊ/. furry is at rank #13,727, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈfɜː.ɹi/.
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 62485, this pair ranks #88,259 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of furrow vs furry
Shared letters: fru. Private to "furrow": ow. Private to "furry": y.
"furrow" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "furry" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "furrow" and "furry" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "furrow" or "furry"?
Remembering furrow vs furry
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “furrow”; for an adjective, it's “furry”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “furrow” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable