mobstervsmolesterTell them apart

Which to use

“mobster” and “molester” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#35,834
“mobster” frequency rank
#41,770
“molester” frequency rank
77604
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mobster molester
Definition A member of a mob or Mafia. One who molests.

Where the eye mixes mobster and molester

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
mobster
8 ch
molester

Why the eye confuses mobster with molester

A purely visual mix-up. mobster (/ˈmɒb.stə/) and molester (/məˈlɛstɚ/) 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 77604, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mobster is recorded at frequency rank #35,834, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɒb.stə/. molester is at rank #41,770, tagged as anoun, pronounced /məˈlɛstɚ/.

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 77604, this pair ranks #26,806 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of mobster vs molester

Shared letters: emorst. Private to "mobster": b. Private to "molester": l.

"mobster" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC  ·  "molester" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mobstermboster · mmobster · mobbster · mobsetr · mobsster · mobsterr · mobstre · mobstter
  • molestermloester · mmolester · moelster · molesetr · molesster · molesterr · molestre · molestter

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mobster" and "molester" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈmɒb.stə/ versus /məˈlɛstɚ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "mobster" vs "molester" - which ranks higher?
"mobster" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,834 in our English list, against #41,770 for "molester". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mobster" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "molester" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #26,806 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mobster" and "molester" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "molest vs molester". 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 #26,806 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list