Which to use
“ghosts” and “goss” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,546
- “ghosts” frequency rank
- #30,069
- “goss” frequency rank
- 38615
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ghosts | goss |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of ghost | Gossip. |
Letter map: ghosts vs goss
Shared letters muted; letters that set ghosts and goss apart highlighted. Shared run: 4. ghosts runs 6 letters (CCVCCC) against goss's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Spelling & dictionary notes on ghosts vs goss
ghosts 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38615, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ghosts is recorded at frequency rank #8,546, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɡoʊsts/. 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 38615, this pair ranks #284,337 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ghosts vs goss
Shared letters: gos. Private to "ghosts": ht. Private to "goss": -.
"ghosts" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC · "goss" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ghosts" and "goss" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "ghosts" or "goss"?
What to do next
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "ghosts" and "goss".
- Full dictionary entry for "ghosts" 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 #284,337 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ghosts" 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 #284,337 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.