Which to use
“gouge” is a noun and “Gough” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #41,154
- “gouge” frequency rank
- #27,479
- “Gough” frequency rank
- 68633
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gouge | Gough |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Senses relating to cutting tools. | A surname. |
Where the eye mixes gouge and Gough
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. gouge (CVVCV) and Gough (CVVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses gouge with Gough
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gouge is /ɡaʊd͡ʒ/ while Gough is /ɡɒf/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “gouge” becomes h in “Gough”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68633, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gouge is recorded at frequency rank #41,154, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɡaʊd͡ʒ/. Gough is at rank #27,479, tagged as aname, pronounced /ɡɒf/.
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 68633, this pair ranks #58,003 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of gouge vs Gough
Shared letters: gou. Private to "gouge": e. Private to "Gough": h.
"gouge" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "Gough" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "gouge" for "Gough" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "gouge" or "Gough" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "gouge" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Gough" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #58,003 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gouge" and "Gough" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gog vs gouge". 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 #58,003 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.