Which to use
“but” is a preposition and “butt” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #25
- “but” frequency rank
- #4,430
- “butt” frequency rank
- 4455
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | but | butt |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Apart from, except (for), excluding. | The larger or thicker end of something; the blunt end, in distinction from the sharp or narrow end |
Same sound, different letters: but vs butt
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 3 letters.
Homophone desk: but vs butt
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: but and butt carry the same recorded pronunciation, /ˈbʌt/. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is apreposition, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “but” sits inside “butt”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4455, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
but is recorded at frequency rank #25, classified as aprep, pronounced /ˈbʌt/. butt is at rank #4,430, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bʌt/.
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 4455, this pair ranks #518,872 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of but vs butt
Shared letters: btu. Private to "but": -. Private to "butt": -.
"but" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "butt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- butt ← bbutt · btut · ubtt
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "but" for "butt" ever safe?
Frequency check: "but" vs "butt" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "but" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "butt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #518,872 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "but" and "butt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Bui vs butt". 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 #518,872 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.