Which to use
“non” is an adverb and “nosy” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #515
- “non” frequency rank
- #34,995
- “nosy” frequency rank
- 35510
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | non | nosy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Obsolete form of none. | Prying, inquisitive or curious in other’s affairs; tending to snoop or meddle. |
Where the eye mixes non and nosy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. non runs 3 letters (CVC) against nosy's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses non with nosy
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: non is /nɑn/ while nosy is /ˈnəʊziː/. 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 (adverb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35510, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
non is recorded at frequency rank #515, classified as anadv, pronounced /nɑn/. nosy is at rank #34,995, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈnəʊziː/.
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 35510, this pair ranks #311,315 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of non vs nosy
Shared letters: no. Private to "non": -. Private to "nosy": sy.
"non" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "nosy" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- nosy ← nnosy · nossy · nosyy · noys · nsoy · onsy
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "non" for "nosy" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "non" or "nosy" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "non" and "nosy" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "non" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "nosy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #311,315 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "non" and "nosy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Nasr vs nosy". 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 #311,315 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.