Which to use
“ghost” and “goss” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,494
- “ghost” frequency rank
- #30,069
- “goss” frequency rank
- 33563
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ghost | goss |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A disembodied soul; a soul or spirit of a deceased person; a spirit appearing after death. | Gossip. |
Letter map: ghost vs goss
Shared letters muted; letters that set ghost and goss apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.
Spelling & dictionary notes on ghost vs goss
ghost and goss are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33563, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ghost is recorded at frequency rank #3,494, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɡəʊst/. goss is at rank #30,069, tagged as anoun.
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 33563, this pair ranks #328,314 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ghost vs goss
Shared letters: gos. Private to "ghost": ht. Private to "goss": -.
"ghost" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "goss" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ghost" for "goss" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ghost" vs "goss" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
You've compared "ghost" and "goss". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "ghost" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "goss" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #328,314 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ghost" and "goss" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "goer vs goss". 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 #328,314 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.