Which to use
“scorn” and “sown” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,584
- “scorn” frequency rank
- #30,976
- “sown” frequency rank
- 55560
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | scorn | sown |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To feel or display contempt or disdain for something or somebody; to despise. | past participle of sow |
Where the eye mixes scorn and sown
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. scorn runs 5 letters (CCVCC) against sown's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between scorn and sown
A purely visual mix-up. scorn (/skɔːn/) and sown (/soʊn/) 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 55560, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
scorn is recorded at frequency rank #24,584, classified as averb, pronounced /skɔːn/. sown is at rank #30,976, tagged as averb, pronounced /soʊn/.
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 55560, this pair ranks #132,705 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of scorn vs sown
Shared letters: nos. Private to "scorn": cr. Private to "sown": w.
"scorn" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "sown" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "scorn" for "sown" ever safe?
Frequency check: "scorn" vs "sown" - 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 "scorn" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sown" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #132,705 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "scorn" and "sown" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "soca vs sown". 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 #132,705 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.