# tern vs terry

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### tern
*noun · IPA /tɜːn/ · frequency rank #40,923*
Any of various seabirds of the subfamily Sterninae (of the family Laridae) that are similar to gulls but are smaller and have a forked tail.

### terry
*noun · IPA /ˈtɛɹi/ · frequency rank #4,806*
A type of coarse cotton fabric covered in many small raised loops that is used to make towels, bathrobes and some types of nappy/diaper.

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