Which to use
“gross” is an adjective and “grow” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #22,579
- “gross” frequency rank
- #48,564
- “grow” frequency rank
- 71143
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gross | grow |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Variante orthographique de groß. | et Pousser. |
Where the eye mixes gross and grow
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. gross runs 5 letters (CCVCC) against grow's 4 (CCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between gross and grow
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gross is \ɡʀoːs\ while grow is \ɡɹəʊ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71143, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gross is recorded at frequency rank #22,579, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɡʀoːs\. grow is at rank #48,564, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɡɹəʊ\.
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 71143, this pair ranks #48,654 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of gross vs grow
Shared letters: gor. Private to "gross": s. Private to "grow": w.
"gross" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "grow" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "gross" for "grow" ever safe?
Which is more common, "gross" or "grow"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "gross" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "grow" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #48,654 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gross" and "grow" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Groix vs grow". 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 #48,654 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.