Which to use
“roux” and “rows” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #28,702
- “roux” frequency rank
- #8,852
- “rows” frequency rank
- 37554
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | roux | rows |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A mixture of fat (usually butter) and flour used to thicken sauces and stews. | plural of row |
Where the eye mixes roux and rows
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between roux and rows
A purely visual mix-up. roux (/ɹuː/) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37554, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
roux is recorded at frequency rank #28,702, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɹuː/. 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 37554, this pair ranks #293,588 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of roux vs rows
Shared letters: or. Private to "roux": ux. Private to "rows": sw.
"roux" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "rows" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "roux" for "rows" ever safe?
Frequency check: "roux" vs "rows" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "roux" 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 #293,588 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "roux" and "rows" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "roux vs Rua". 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 #293,588 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.