Which to use
“melton” and “mutton” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,498
- “melton” frequency rank
- #28,634
- “mutton” frequency rank
- 61132
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | melton | mutton |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A tough, short-napped material used for making overcoats. | The meat of sheep used as food; especially, that of adults. |
Where the eye mixes melton and mutton
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between melton and mutton
A purely visual mix-up. melton (/ˈmɛlt(ə)n/) and mutton (/ˈmʌt(ə)n/) 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 61132, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
melton is recorded at frequency rank #32,498, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɛlt(ə)n/. mutton is at rank #28,634, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmʌt(ə)n/.
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 61132, this pair ranks #96,019 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of melton vs mutton
Shared letters: mnot. Private to "melton": el. Private to "mutton": u.
"melton" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "mutton" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "melton" and "mutton" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "melton" vs "mutton" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "melton" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mutton" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #96,019 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "melton" and "mutton" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Mello vs melton". 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 #96,019 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.