Which to use
“cast” and “cut” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,686
- “cast” frequency rank
- #569
- “cut” frequency rank
- 2255
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cast | cut |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To move, or be moved, away. | To incise, to cut into the surface of something. |
Where the eye mixes cast and cut
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. cast (/kɑːst/) and cut (/kʌt/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2255, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cast is recorded at frequency rank #1,686, classified as averb, pronounced /kɑːst/. cut is at rank #569, tagged as averb, pronounced /kʌt/.
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 2255, this pair ranks #525,453 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cast vs cut
Shared letters: ct. Private to "cast": as. Private to "cut": u.
"cast" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "cut" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- cast ← acst · casst · castt · ccast · csat