mofovsmuffWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#46,074
“mofo” frequency rank
#41,774
“muff” frequency rank
87848
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mofo muff
Definition Abbreviation of motherfucker. A piece of fur or cloth, usually with open ends, used for keeping the hands warm.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mofo and muff apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
mofo
4 ch
muff

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. mofo (/ˈməʊfəʊ/) and muff (/mʌf/) 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 87848, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mofo is recorded at frequency rank #46,074, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈməʊfəʊ/. muff is at rank #41,774, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mʌf/.

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 87848, this pair ranks #7,085 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of mofo vs muff

Shared letters: fm. Private to "mofo": o. Private to "muff": u.

"mofo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "muff" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mofomfoo · mmofo · moffo · moof · omfo
  • muffmfuf · mmuff · muf · umff

Frequency comparison

mofo#46,074
muff#41,774

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mofo" and "muff" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈməʊfəʊ/ versus /mʌf/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "mofo" or "muff"?
"muff" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #41,774 in our English list, against #46,074 for "mofo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering mofo vs muff

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “mofo” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list