gobvsgossWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#41,647
“gob” frequency rank
#30,069
“goss” frequency rank
71716
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gob goss
Definition A lump of soft or sticky material. Gossip.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set gob and goss apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
gob
4 ch
goss

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

gob 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 71716, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gob is recorded at frequency rank #41,647, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɡɒb/. 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 71716, this pair ranks #45,700 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of gob vs goss

Shared letters: go. Private to "gob": b. Private to "goss": s.

"gob" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "goss" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gossggoss · gos · gsos · ogss

Frequency comparison

gob#41,647
goss#30,069

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gob" and "goss" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "gob" or "goss"?
"goss" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,069 in our English list, against #41,647 for "gob". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering gob vs goss

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 “gob” 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