Which to use
“mutation” and “mutton” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,281
- “mutation” frequency rank
- #28,634
- “mutton” frequency rank
- 40915
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mutation | mutton |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Any alteration or change. | The meat of sheep used as food; especially, that of adults. |
Where the eye mixes mutation and mutton
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between mutation and mutton
A purely visual mix-up. mutation (/mjuˈteɪʃən/) and mutton (/ˈmʌt(ə)n/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40915, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mutation is recorded at frequency rank #12,281, classified as anoun, pronounced /mjuˈteɪʃən/. mutton is at rank #28,634, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmʌt(ə)n/.
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 40915, this pair ranks #263,248 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mutation vs mutton
Shared letters: mnotu. Private to "mutation": ai. Private to "mutton": -.
"mutation" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC · "mutton" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mutation" and "mutton" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "mutation" or "mutton" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "mutation" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mutton" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #263,248 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mutation" and "mutton" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Moulton vs mutton". 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 #263,248 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.