buttedvsbuttersWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: butted is a verb, butters is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“butted” is a verb and “butters” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#48,109
“butted” frequency rank
#31,893
“butters” frequency rank
80002
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature butted butters
Definition simple past and past participle of butt plural of butter

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set butted and butters apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
butted
7 ch
butters

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: butted is /ˈbʌtɪd/ while butters is /ˈbʌt.əz/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80002, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

butted is recorded at frequency rank #48,109, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈbʌtɪd/. butters is at rank #31,893, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈbʌt.əz/.

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 80002, this pair ranks #20,784 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of butted vs butters

Shared letters: betu. Private to "butted": d. Private to "butters": rs.

"butted" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "butters" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • buttedbbutted · btuted · buted · butetd · buttde · buttedd · ubtted
  • buttersbbutters · btuters · buters · butetrs · butterrs · butterss · buttesr · buttres

Frequency comparison

butted#48,109
butters#31,893

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "butted" and "butters" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "butted" is a verb and "butters" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "butted" or "butters"?
"butters" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,893 in our English list, against #48,109 for "butted". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering butted vs butters

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “butted”; for a noun, it's “butters”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “butted” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list