Which to use
“sow” and “spy” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,722
- “sow” frequency rank
- #4,799
- “spy” frequency rank
- 22521
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sow | spy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A female pig. | A person who secretly watches and examines the actions of other individuals or organizations and gathers information on them (usually to gain an advantage). |
Where the eye mixes sow and spy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: sow vs spy
A purely visual mix-up. sow (/saʊ/) and spy (/spaɪ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22521, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sow is recorded at frequency rank #17,722, classified as anoun, pronounced /saʊ/. spy is at rank #4,799, tagged as anoun, pronounced /spaɪ/.
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 22521, this pair ranks #415,973 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sow vs spy
Shared letters: s. Private to "sow": ow. Private to "spy": py.
"sow" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "spy" · 3 letters · shape CCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "sow" and "spy" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "sow" or "spy" 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 "sow" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "spy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #415,973 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sow" and "spy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sif vs sow". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #415,973 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.