gust vs gusts, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“gust” and “gusts” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#25,398
“gust” frequency rank: #23,852
“gusts” frequency rank: 49250
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	gust	gusts
Definition	A strong, abrupt rush of wind.	plural of gust

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set gust and gusts apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch

gust

5 ch

gusts

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. gust (/ɡʌst/) and gusts (/ɡʌsts/) 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 extra letter(s) - “gust” sits inside “gusts”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49250, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gust is recorded at frequency rank #25,398, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɡʌst/. gusts is at rank #23,852, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɡʌsts/.

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 49250, this pair ranks #185,403 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gust vs gusts

Shared letters: gstu. Private to "gust": -. Private to "gusts": -.

"gust" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "gusts" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

gust ← ggust · gsut · gustt · ugst
gusts ← ggusts · gsuts · gusst · gussts · gustss · gustts · ugsts

Frequency comparison

gust#25,398

gusts#23,852

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gust" and "gusts" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/ɡʌst/ versus /ɡʌsts/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "gust" or "gusts"?

"gusts" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,852 in our English list, against #25,398 for "gust". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering gust vs gusts

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “gust” entry
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