Which to use
“totem” is a noun and “towed” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #25,952
- “totem” frequency rank
- #17,737
- “towed” frequency rank
- 43689
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | totem | towed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Any natural object or living creature that serves as an emblem of a tribe, clan or family; the representation of such an object or creature. | simple past and past participle of tow |
Where the eye mixes totem and towed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. totem and towed follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between totem and towed
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: totem is /ˈtoʊtəm/ while towed is /toʊd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43689, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
totem is recorded at frequency rank #25,952, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈtoʊtəm/. towed is at rank #17,737, tagged as averb, pronounced /toʊd/.
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 43689, this pair ranks #237,573 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of totem vs towed
Shared letters: eot. Private to "totem": m. Private to "towed": dw.
"totem" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "towed" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "totem" for "towed" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "totem" or "towed" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "totem" and "towed" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "totem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "towed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #237,573 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "totem" and "towed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "totem vs Toth". 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 #237,573 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.