Which to use
“scour” is a verb and “scourge” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,216
- “scour” frequency rank
- #22,807
- “scourge” frequency rank
- 53023
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | scour | scourge |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To clean, polish, or wash (something) by rubbing and scrubbing it vigorously, frequently with an abrasive or cleaning agent. | A whip, often made of leather and having multiple tails; a lash. |
Where the eye mixes scour and scourge
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. scour runs 5 letters (CCVVC) against scourge's 7 (CCVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses scour with scourge
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: scour is /ˈskaʊə/ while scourge is /skɜːd͡ʒ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “scour” sits inside “scourge”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53023, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
scour is recorded at frequency rank #30,216, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈskaʊə/. scourge is at rank #22,807, tagged as anoun, pronounced /skɜːd͡ʒ/.
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 53023, this pair ranks #152,296 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of scour vs scourge
Shared letters: corsu. Private to "scour": -. Private to "scourge": eg.
"scour" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "scourge" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "scour" and "scourge" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "scour" or "scourge" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "scour" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "scourge" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #152,296 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "scour" and "scourge" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "SCO vs scour". 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 #152,296 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.