Which to use
“guts” is a noun and “gutsy” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,055
- “guts” frequency rank
- #40,272
- “gutsy” frequency rank
- 50327
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | guts | gutsy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of gut | Marked by courage, determination or boldness in the face of difficulties or danger; having guts. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set guts and gutsy apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: guts is /ɡʌts/ while gutsy is /ˈɡʌt.si/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “guts” sits inside “gutsy”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50327, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
guts is recorded at frequency rank #10,055, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɡʌts/. gutsy is at rank #40,272, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈɡʌt.si/.
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 50327, this pair ranks #175,317 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of guts vs gutsy
Shared letters: gstu. Private to "guts": -. Private to "gutsy": y.
"guts" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "gutsy" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "guts" and "gutsy" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "guts" or "gutsy"?
Remembering guts vs gutsy
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “guts”; for an adjective, it's “gutsy”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “guts” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable