OsagevsoutageWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“Osage” and “outage” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#31,684
“Osage” frequency rank
#20,727
“outage” frequency rank
52411
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Osage outage
Definition A member of the Osage Nation. A temporary suspension of operation, especially of electrical power supply.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Osage and outage apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Osage
6 ch
outage

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Osage (/ˈoʊseɪdʒ/) and outage (/ˈaʊ.tɪd͡ʒ/) 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 52411, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Osage is recorded at frequency rank #31,684, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈoʊseɪdʒ/. outage is at rank #20,727, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈaʊ.tɪd͡ʒ/.

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 52411, this pair ranks #157,267 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Osage vs outage

Shared letters: aego. Private to "Osage": s. Private to "outage": tu.

"Osage" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "outage" · 6 letters · shape VVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Osageoasge · osaeg · osagge · osgae · ossage · soage
  • outageotuage · ouatge · outaeg · outagge · outgae · outtage · uotage

Frequency comparison

Osage#31,684
outage#20,727

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Osage" and "outage" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈoʊseɪdʒ/ versus /ˈaʊ.tɪd͡ʒ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Osage" or "outage"?
"outage" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,727 in our English list, against #31,684 for "Osage". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Osage vs outage

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Osage” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list