Which to use
“goff” and “gow” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #30,066
- “goff” frequency rank
- #42,161
- “gow” frequency rank
- 72227
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | goff | gow |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Obsolete form of golf (“ball game”). | Opium. |
Letter map: goff vs gow
Shared letters muted; letters that set goff and gow apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Spelling & dictionary notes on goff vs gow
goff and gow 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 72227, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
goff is recorded at frequency rank #30,066, classified as anoun. gow is at rank #42,161, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɡaʊ/.
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 72227, this pair ranks #43,771 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of goff vs gow
Shared letters: go. Private to "goff": f. Private to "gow": w.
"goff" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "gow" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- goff ← gfof · ggoff · ogff
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "goff" and "gow" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "goff" or "gow" show up more?
After this comparison
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "goff" and "gow".
- Full dictionary entry for "goff" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gow" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #43,771 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "goff" and "gow" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gnaw vs gow". 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 #43,771 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.