Which to use
“mushy” is an adjective and “must” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,264
- “mushy” frequency rank
- #198
- “must” frequency rank
- 31462
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mushy | must |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Resembling or having the consistency of mush; semiliquid, pasty, or granular. | To do as a requirement; indicates that the sentence subject is required as an imperative or directive to execute the sentence predicate, with failure to do so resulting in a failure or negative consequence. |
Where the eye mixes mushy and must
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: mushy vs must
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mushy is /ˈmʌ.ʃi/ while must is /məst/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31462, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mushy is recorded at frequency rank #31,264, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈmʌ.ʃi/. must is at rank #198, tagged as averb, pronounced /məst/.
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 31462, this pair ranks #345,897 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mushy vs must
Shared letters: msu. Private to "mushy": hy. Private to "must": t.
"mushy" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "must" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mushy" for "must" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "mushy" or "must" show up more?
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 "mushy" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "must" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #345,897 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mushy" and "must" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Murthy vs mushy". 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 #345,897 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.