Which to use
“cites” and “cuts” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,742
- “cites” frequency rank
- #3,477
- “cuts” frequency rank
- 16219
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cites | cuts |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of cite | plural of cut |
Where the eye mixes cites and cuts
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses cites with cuts
A purely visual mix-up. cites (/saɪts/) and cuts (/kʌts/) 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 16219, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cites is recorded at frequency rank #12,742, classified as anoun, pronounced /saɪts/. cuts is at rank #3,477, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kʌts/.
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 16219, this pair ranks #459,126 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cites vs cuts
Shared letters: cst. Private to "cites": ei. Private to "cuts": u.
"cites" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "cuts" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cites" and "cuts" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "cites" or "cuts" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "cites" and "cuts" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "cites" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cuts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #459,126 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cites" and "cuts" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cates vs cites". 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 #459,126 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.