Which to use
“outgrow” is a verb and “outgrowth” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #43,296
- “outgrow” frequency rank
- #44,981
- “outgrowth” frequency rank
- 88277
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | outgrow | outgrowth |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To become too big in size or too mature in age or outlook to continue to want, need, use, experience, or accept some object, practice, condition, belief, etc. | Anything that grows out of something else. |
Where the eye mixes outgrow and outgrowth
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. outgrow runs 7 letters (VVCCCVC) against outgrowth's 9 (VVCCCVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between outgrow and outgrowth
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: outgrow is /ˌaʊtˈɡɹəʊ/ while outgrowth is /ˈaʊtˌɡroʊθ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “outgrow” sits inside “outgrowth”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 88277, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
outgrow is recorded at frequency rank #43,296, classified as averb, pronounced /ˌaʊtˈɡɹəʊ/. outgrowth is at rank #44,981, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈaʊtˌɡroʊθ/.
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 88277, this pair ranks #6,560 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of outgrow vs outgrowth
Shared letters: gortuw. Private to "outgrow": -. Private to "outgrowth": h.
"outgrow" · 7 letters · shape VVCCCVC · "outgrowth" · 9 letters · shape VVCCCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "outgrow" and "outgrowth" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "outgrow" or "outgrowth"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "outgrow" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "outgrowth" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #6,560 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "outgrow" and "outgrowth" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "outcrop vs outgrow". 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 #6,560 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.