Which to use
“minster” and “mobster” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #30,885
- “minster” frequency rank
- #35,834
- “mobster” frequency rank
- 66719
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | minster | mobster |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A monastic church. | A member of a mob or Mafia. |
Where the eye mixes minster and mobster
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between minster and mobster
A purely visual mix-up. minster (/ˈmɪnstə/) and mobster (/ˈmɒb.stə/) 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 66719, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
minster is recorded at frequency rank #30,885, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɪnstə/. mobster is at rank #35,834, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɒb.stə/.
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 66719, this pair ranks #66,720 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of minster vs mobster
Shared letters: emrst. Private to "minster": in. Private to "mobster": bo.
"minster" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC · "mobster" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "minster" for "mobster" ever safe?
Frequency check: "minster" vs "mobster" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "minster" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mobster" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #66,720 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "minster" and "mobster" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "minster vs miser". 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 #66,720 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.