# surf vs surly

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### surf
*noun · IPA /sɜːf/ · frequency rank #8,866*
Waves that break on an ocean shoreline.

### surly
*adjective · IPA /ˈsɜːli/ · frequency rank #35,102*
Irritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/surf-vs-surly