Which to use
“mumps” and “muses” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,683
- “mumps” frequency rank
- #27,576
- “muses” frequency rank
- 64259
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mumps | muses |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A contagious disease caused by the Mumps virus of the genus Rubulavirus, mostly occurring in childhood, which causes swelling of glands in the face and neck. | plural of muse |
Where the eye mixes mumps and muses
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. mumps (CVCCC) and muses (CVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between mumps and muses
A purely visual mix-up. mumps (/mʌmps/) and muses (/mjuːzɪz/) 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 64259, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mumps is recorded at frequency rank #36,683, classified as anoun, pronounced /mʌmps/. muses is at rank #27,576, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mjuːzɪz/.
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 64259, this pair ranks #78,664 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of mumps vs muses
Shared letters: msu. Private to "mumps": p. Private to "muses": e.
"mumps" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "muses" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mumps" for "muses" ever safe?
Which is more common, "mumps" or "muses"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "mumps" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "muses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #78,664 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mumps" and "muses" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "MMP vs mumps". 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 #78,664 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.