# oni vs ow

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### oni
*noun · IPA /ˈəʊni/ · frequency rank #36,267*
A Japanese evil spirit or demon.

### ow
*intj · IPA /ˈaʊ/ · frequency rank #12,291*
Synonym of ouch (“cry of pain”).

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oni-vs-ow