Which to use
“mat” and “myth” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,065
- “mat” frequency rank
- #6,269
- “myth” frequency rank
- 15334
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mat | myth |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A flat piece of coarse material used for wiping one’s feet, or as a decorative or protective floor covering. | A traditional story which embodies a belief regarding some fact or phenomenon of experience, and in which often the forces of nature and of the soul are personified; a sacred narrative regarding a god, a hero, the origin of the world or of a people, etc. |
Where the eye mixes mat and myth
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: mat vs myth
A purely visual mix-up. mat (/mæt/) and myth (/mɪθ/) 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 15334, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mat is recorded at frequency rank #9,065, classified as anoun, pronounced /mæt/. myth is at rank #6,269, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mɪθ/.
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 15334, this pair ranks #464,621 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mat vs myth
Shared letters: mt. Private to "mat": a. Private to "myth": hy.
"mat" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "myth" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- myth ← mmyth · mtyh · myht · mythh · mytth · myyth · ymth
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mat" for "myth" ever safe?
Frequency check: "mat" vs "myth" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "mat" and "myth" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "mat" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "myth" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #464,621 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mat" and "myth" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mat vs MPAA". 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 #464,621 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.