mumvsMutWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,295
“mum” frequency rank
#2,405
“Mut” frequency rank
13700
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mum Mut
Definition Ester aus Fettsäuren und langkettigen Alkoholen; Wachs Geisteshaltung, bei der Handlungen in einer gefährlichen, kritischen oder waghalsigen Situation energisch und furchtlos ausgeführt werden

Where the eye mixes mum and Mut

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
mum
3 ch
Mut

Visual trap between mum and Mut

A purely visual mix-up. mum ([mum]) and Mut ([muːt]) 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 a single letter - m in “mum” becomes t in “Mut”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13700, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mum is recorded at frequency rank #11,295, classified as anoun, pronounced [mum]. Mut is at rank #2,405, tagged as anoun, pronounced [muːt].

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 13700, this pair ranks #1,956,312 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mum vs Mut

Shared letters: mu. Private to "mum": -. Private to "Mut": t.

"mum" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Mut" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mum" and "Mut" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([mum] versus [muːt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "mum" or "Mut"?
"Mut" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,405 in our German list, against #11,295 for "mum". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "mum" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Mut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,956,312 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mum" and "Mut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mum vs münz". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,956,312 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