Which to use
“gross” is an adjective and “grow” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,305
- “gross” frequency rank
- #1,344
- “grow” frequency rank
- 4649
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gross | grow |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Highly or conspicuously offensive. | To become larger, to increase in magnitude. |
Where the eye mixes gross and grow
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gross is /ɡɹəʊs/ while grow is /ɡɹəʊ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4649, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gross is recorded at frequency rank #3,305, classified as anadj, pronounced /ɡɹəʊs/. grow is at rank #1,344, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɡɹəʊ/.
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 4649, this pair ranks #518,182 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of gross vs grow
Shared letters: gor. Private to "gross": s. Private to "grow": w.
"gross" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "grow" · 4 letters · shape CCVC