# onward vs outward

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### onward
*adjective · IPA /ˈɒnwəd/ · frequency rank #15,873*
Moving forward.

### outward
*adjective · IPA /ˈaʊt.wɚd/ · frequency rank #14,603*
Outer; located towards the outside.

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