goosevsgrosseWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,048
“goose” frequency rank
#41,160
“grosse” frequency rank
50208
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature goose grosse
Definition Any of various grazing waterfowl of the family Anatidae, which have feathers and webbed feet and are capable of flying, swimming, and walking on land, and which are generally bigger than ducks. Obsolete spelling of gross.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set goose and grosse apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
goose
6 ch
grosse

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

goose and grosse 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 50208, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

goose is recorded at frequency rank #9,048, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɡuːs/. grosse is at rank #41,160, 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 50208, this pair ranks #176,334 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of goose vs grosse

Shared letters: egos. Private to "goose": -. Private to "grosse": r.

"goose" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "grosse" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gooseggoose · gooes · goosse · gosoe · ogose
  • grosseggrosse · gorsse · grose · groses · grrosse · grsose · rgosse

Frequency comparison

goose#9,048
grosse#41,160

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "goose" and "grosse" 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, "goose" or "grosse"?
"goose" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,048 in our English list, against #41,160 for "grosse". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering goose vs grosse

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 “goose” 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