Which to use
“sewn” is a verb and “sow” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23,095
- “sewn” frequency rank
- #17,722
- “sow” frequency rank
- 40817
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sewn | sow |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | past participle of sew | A female pig. |
Where the eye mixes sewn and sow
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. sewn runs 4 letters (CVCC) against sow's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses sewn with sow
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sewn is /səʊn/ while sow is /saʊ/. 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 40817, 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/. sow is at rank #17,722, tagged as anoun, pronounced /saʊ/.
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 40817, this pair ranks #264,136 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sewn vs sow
Shared letters: sw. Private to "sewn": en. Private to "sow": o.
"sewn" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "sow" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- sewn ← eswn · senw · sewnn · sewwn · ssewn · swen
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sewn" for "sow" ever safe?
Frequency check: "sewn" vs "sow" - 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 "sewn" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sow" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #264,136 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sewn" and "sow" 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 #264,136 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.