Which to use
“mook” is a noun and “mow” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #48,363
- “mook” frequency rank
- #25,486
- “mow” frequency rank
- 73849
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mook | mow |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A disagreeable or incompetent person. | To cut down grass or crops. |
Where the eye mixes mook and mow
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. mook runs 4 letters (CVVC) against mow's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between mook and mow
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mook is /muːk/ while mow is /məʊ/. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73849, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mook is recorded at frequency rank #48,363, classified as anoun, pronounced /muːk/. mow is at rank #25,486, tagged as averb, pronounced /məʊ/.
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 73849, this pair ranks #38,221 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of mook vs mow
Shared letters: mo. Private to "mook": k. Private to "mow": w.
"mook" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "mow" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- mook ← mmook · mok · moko · mookk · omok
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mook" for "mow" ever safe?
Which is more common, "mook" or "mow"?
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 "mook" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mow" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #38,221 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mook" and "mow" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Moog vs mook". 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 #38,221 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.