Which to use
“show” is a noun and “slow” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,997
- “show” frequency rank
- #30,254
- “slow” frequency rank
- 32251
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | show | slow |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Espectáculo. | Lento. |
Where the eye mixes show and slow
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between show and slow
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: show is [ˈʃow] while slow is /sləʊ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - h in “show” becomes l in “slow”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32251, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
show is recorded at frequency rank #1,997, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃow]. slow is at rank #30,254, tagged as anadj, pronounced /sləʊ/.
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 32251, this pair ranks #202,958 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of show vs slow
Shared letters: osw. Private to "show": h. Private to "slow": l.
"show" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "slow" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "show" for "slow" ever safe?
Which is more common, "show" or "slow"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "show" and "slow" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "show" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "slow" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #202,958 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "show" and "slow" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "slow vs snob". 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 #202,958 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.