# ow vs owed

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

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

### owed
*verb · IPA /oʊd/ · frequency rank #8,838*
simple past and past participle of owe

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-09-03.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ow-vs-owed