Which to use
“nome” and “nose” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #43,283
- “nome” frequency rank
- #2,956
- “nose” frequency rank
- 46239
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | nome | nose |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A prefecture or unit of regional government in Greece. | A protuberance on the face housing the nostrils, which are used to breathe or smell. |
Where the eye mixes nome and nose
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. nome and nose follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses nome with nose
A purely visual mix-up. nome (/nəʊm/) and nose ([nəʊ̯z]) 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 a single letter - m in “nome” becomes s in “nose”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46239, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
nome is recorded at frequency rank #43,283, classified as anoun, pronounced /nəʊm/. nose is at rank #2,956, tagged as anoun, pronounced [nəʊ̯z].
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 46239, this pair ranks #213,660 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of nome vs nose
Shared letters: eno. Private to "nome": m. Private to "nose": s.
"nome" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "nose" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "nome" for "nose" ever safe?
Which is more common, "nome" or "nose"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "nome" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "nose" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #213,660 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "nome" and "nose" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nome vs nori". 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 #213,660 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.