Which to use
“mutter” and “mutton” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,512
- “mutter” frequency rank
- #28,634
- “mutton” frequency rank
- 67146
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mutter | mutton |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A repressed or obscure utterance; an instance of muttering. | The meat of sheep used as food; especially, that of adults. |
Where the eye mixes mutter and mutton
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses mutter with mutton
A purely visual mix-up. mutter (/ˈmʌtə/) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67146, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mutter is recorded at frequency rank #38,512, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmʌtə/. 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 67146, this pair ranks #64,695 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of mutter vs mutton
Shared letters: mtu. Private to "mutter": er. Private to "mutton": no.
"mutter" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "mutton" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mutter" for "mutton" ever safe?
Frequency check: "mutter" vs "mutton" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "mutter" and "mutton" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "mutter" 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 #64,695 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mutter" and "mutton" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mutate vs mutter". 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 #64,695 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.