Which to use
“bests” is an intj and “butts” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #47,490
- “bests” frequency rank
- #14,287
- “butts” frequency rank
- 61777
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bests | butts |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A polite, formulaic end to a letter or email. | plural of butt |
Where the eye mixes bests and butts
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. bests and butts follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: bests vs butts
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bests is /bɛsts/ while butts is /bʌts/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (intj vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61777, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bests is recorded at frequency rank #47,490, classified as anintj, pronounced /bɛsts/. butts is at rank #14,287, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bʌts/.
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 61777, this pair ranks #92,280 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of bests vs butts
Shared letters: bst. Private to "bests": e. Private to "butts": u.
"bests" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "butts" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "bests" and "butts" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "bests" or "butts" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "bests" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "butts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #92,280 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bests" and "butts" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bestie vs bests". 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 #92,280 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.