Which to use
“golf” and “gulf” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,679
- “golf” frequency rank
- #4,454
- “gulf” frequency rank
- 7133
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | golf | gulf |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A ball game played by individuals competing against one another in which the object is to hit a ball into each of a series of (usually 18 or nine) holes in the minimum number of strokes. | A hollow place in the earth; an abyss; a deep chasm or basin. |
Where the eye mixes golf and gulf
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. golf (/ɡɒlf/) and gulf (/ɡʌlf/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - o in “golf” becomes u in “gulf”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7133, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
golf is recorded at frequency rank #2,679, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɡɒlf/. gulf is at rank #4,454, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɡʌlf/.
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 7133, this pair ranks #508,426 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of golf vs gulf
Shared letters: fgl. Private to "golf": o. Private to "gulf": u.
"golf" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "gulf" · 4 letters · shape CVCC