Which to use
“showy” and “shy” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,687
- “showy” frequency rank
- #5,551
- “shy” frequency rank
- 43238
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | showy | shy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Calling attention; flashy; standing out to the eye. | Easily frightened; timid. |
Where the eye mixes showy and shy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between showy and shy
A purely visual mix-up. showy (/ˈʃəʊ.i/) and shy (/ʃaɪ/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43238, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
showy is recorded at frequency rank #37,687, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈʃəʊ.i/. shy is at rank #5,551, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ʃaɪ/.
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 43238, this pair ranks #241,906 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of showy vs shy
Shared letters: hsy. Private to "showy": ow. Private to "shy": -.
"showy" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "shy" · 3 letters · shape CCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- showy ← hsowy · shhowy · showwy · showyy · shoyw · shwoy · sohwy · sshowy
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "showy" for "shy" ever safe?
Frequency check: "showy" vs "shy" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "showy" and "shy" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "showy" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "shy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #241,906 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "showy" and "shy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Shona vs showy". 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 #241,906 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.