Which to use
“knob” and “ko” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,203
- “knob” frequency rank
- #10,717
- “ko” frequency rank
- 25920
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | knob | ko |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A rounded protuberance, especially one arising from a flat surface; a fleshy lump or caruncle. | A local shape to which the ko rule applies; a ko shape. |
Where the eye mixes knob and ko
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses knob with ko
A purely visual mix-up. knob (/nɒb/) and ko (/ˈkəʊ/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25920, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
knob is recorded at frequency rank #15,203, classified as anoun, pronounced /nɒb/. ko is at rank #10,717, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkəʊ/.
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 25920, this pair ranks #390,634 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of knob vs ko
Shared letters: ko. Private to "knob": bn. Private to "ko": -.
"knob" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "ko" · 2 letters · shape CV
Known mistypes of this pair
- knob ← kknob · knbo · knnob · knobb · konb · nkob
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "knob" for "ko" ever safe?
Frequency check: "knob" vs "ko" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "knob" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ko" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #390,634 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "knob" and "ko" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "knob vs Kop". 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 #390,634 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.