Which to use
“lower” and “lowery” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #812
- “lower” frequency rank
- #42,753
- “lowery” frequency rank
- 43565
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lower | lowery |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | comparative form of low: more low | Dark and gloomy; threatening; lowering. |
Where the eye mixes lower and lowery
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: lower vs lowery
A purely visual mix-up. lower (/ˈləʊ.ə/) and lowery (/ˈlaʊəɹi/) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “lower” sits inside “lowery”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43565, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lower is recorded at frequency rank #812, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈləʊ.ə/. lowery is at rank #42,753, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈlaʊəɹi/.
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 43565, this pair ranks #238,797 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lower vs lowery
Shared letters: elorw. Private to "lower": -. Private to "lowery": y.
"lower" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "lowery" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lower" for "lowery" ever safe?
Frequency check: "lower" vs "lowery" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lower" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lowery" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #238,797 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lower" and "lowery" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "leery vs lowery". 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 #238,797 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.