Which to use
“rooks” and “rows” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #49,600
- “rooks” frequency rank
- #8,852
- “rows” frequency rank
- 58452
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rooks | rows |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of rook | plural of row |
Where the eye mixes rooks and rows
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: rooks vs rows
A purely visual mix-up. rooks (/ɹʊks/) and rows (/ɹoʊz/) 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 58452, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
rooks is recorded at frequency rank #49,600, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɹʊks/. rows is at rank #8,852, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɹoʊz/.
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 58452, this pair ranks #112,473 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of rooks vs rows
Shared letters: ors. Private to "rooks": k. Private to "rows": w.
"rooks" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "rows" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "rooks" for "rows" ever safe?
Frequency check: "rooks" vs "rows" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "rooks" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "rows" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #112,473 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "rooks" and "rows" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rood vs rooks". 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 #112,473 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.