grosvsgrossWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“gros” and “gross” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#47,837
“gros” frequency rank
#31,371
“gross” frequency rank
79208
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gros gross
Definition Grande Grosero.

Where the eye mixes gros and gross

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. gros runs 4 letters (CCVC) against gross's 5 (CCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
gros
5 ch
gross

Why the eye confuses gros with gross

A purely visual mix-up. gros ([ˈɡɾos]) and gross (/ɡɹəʊs/) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “gros” sits inside “gross”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 79208, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gros is recorded at frequency rank #47,837, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡɾos]. gross is at rank #31,371, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ɡɹəʊs/.

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 79208, this pair ranks #13,334 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of gros vs gross

Shared letters: gors. Private to "gros": -. Private to "gross": -.

"gros" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "gross" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gros ← ggros · gors · grros · grso · rgos
  • gross ← ggross · gorss · grross · grsos · rgoss

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gros" and "gross" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɡɾos] versus /ɡɹəʊs/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gros" or "gross"?
"gross" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,371 in our Spanish list, against #47,837 for "gros". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gros" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gross" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #13,334 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gros" and "gross" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gram vs gros". 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 #13,334 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list