motvsMuteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“mot” and “Mute” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#42,693
“mot” frequency rank
#40,098
“Mute” frequency rank
82791
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mot Mute
Definition Wort Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Mut

Where the eye mixes mot and Mute

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. mot runs 3 letters (CVC) against Mute's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

3 ch
mot
4 ch
Mute

Look-alike desk: mot vs Mute

A purely visual mix-up. mot ([mo]) and Mute ([ˈmuːtə]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82791, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mot is recorded at frequency rank #42,693, classified as anoun, pronounced [mo]. Mute is at rank #40,098, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmuːtə].

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 82791, this pair ranks #150,903 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of mot vs Mute

Shared letters: mt. Private to "mot": o. Private to "Mute": eu.

"mot" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Mute" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Mute ← mmute · mtue · muet · umte

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "mot" for "Mute" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([mo] versus [ˈmuːtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "mot" or "Mute"?
"Mute" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40,098 in our German list, against #42,693 for "mot". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mot" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Mute" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #150,903 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mot" and "Mute" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mora vs mot". 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 #150,903 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list