Which to use
“buoy” is a noun and “but” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #28,856
- “buoy” frequency rank
- #25
- “but” frequency rank
- 28881
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | buoy | but |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A float moored in water to mark a location, warn of danger, indicate a navigational channel or for other purposes | Apart from, except (for), excluding. |
Where the eye mixes buoy and but
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: buoy vs but
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: buoy is /ˈbɔɪ/ while but is /ˈbʌt/. 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 (noun vs preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28881, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
buoy is recorded at frequency rank #28,856, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈbɔɪ/. but is at rank #25, tagged as aprep, pronounced /ˈbʌt/.
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 28881, this pair ranks #367,545 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of buoy vs but
Shared letters: bu. Private to "buoy": oy. Private to "but": t.
"buoy" · 4 letters · shape CVVV · "but" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- buoy ← bbuoy · bouy · buoyy · buyo · uboy
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "buoy" for "but" ever safe?
Frequency check: "buoy" vs "but" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "buoy" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "but" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #367,545 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "buoy" and "but" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bevy vs buoy". 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 #367,545 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.