Which to use
“master” and “mutter” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,250
- “master” frequency rank
- #38,512
- “mutter” frequency rank
- 39762
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | master | mutter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Someone who has control over something or someone. | A repressed or obscure utterance; an instance of muttering. |
Where the eye mixes master and mutter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between master and mutter
A purely visual mix-up. master (/ˈmɑːs.tə/) and mutter (/ˈmʌtə/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39762, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
master is recorded at frequency rank #1,250, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɑːs.tə/. mutter is at rank #38,512, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmʌtə/.
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 39762, this pair ranks #273,754 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of master vs mutter
Shared letters: emrt. Private to "master": as. Private to "mutter": u.
"master" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "mutter" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "master" and "mutter" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "master" or "mutter"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "master" and "mutter" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "master" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mutter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #273,754 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "master" and "mutter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mutate vs mutter". 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 #273,754 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.