Which to use
“move” and “mow” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #447
- “move” frequency rank
- #25,486
- “mow” frequency rank
- 25933
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | move | mow |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To change place or posture; to go, in any manner, from one place or position to another. | To cut down grass or crops. |
Where the eye mixes move and mow
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between move and mow
A purely visual mix-up. move (/muːv/) and mow (/məʊ/) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25933, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
move is recorded at frequency rank #447, classified as averb, pronounced /muːv/. 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 25933, this pair ranks #390,525 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of move vs mow
Shared letters: mo. Private to "move": ev. Private to "mow": w.
"move" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "mow" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- move ← mmove · moev · movve · mvoe · omve
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "move" and "mow" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "move" or "mow" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "move" 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 #390,525 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "move" and "mow" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Moog vs mow". 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 #390,525 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.