Which to use
“sewn” is a verb and “sex” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23,095
- “sewn” frequency rank
- #611
- “sex” frequency rank
- 23706
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sewn | sex |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | past participle of sew | A category into which sexually-reproducing organisms are divided on the basis of their reproductive roles in their species; the system of such categories, which can differ by organism or by taxonomic branch. |
Where the eye mixes sewn and sex
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. sewn runs 4 letters (CVCC) against sex's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: sewn vs sex
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sewn is /səʊn/ while sex is /sɛks/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23706, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sewn is recorded at frequency rank #23,095, classified as averb, pronounced /səʊn/. sex is at rank #611, tagged as anoun, pronounced /sɛks/.
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 23706, this pair ranks #407,351 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sewn vs sex
Shared letters: es. Private to "sewn": nw. Private to "sex": x.
"sewn" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "sex" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- sewn ← eswn · senw · sewnn · sewwn · ssewn · swen
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sewn" for "sex" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "sewn" or "sex" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "sewn" and "sex" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "sewn" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sex" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #407,351 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sewn" and "sex" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sewn vs sez". 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 #407,351 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.