nutmegvsnutterWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#27,585
“nutmeg” frequency rank
#37,121
“nutter” frequency rank
64706
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nutmeg nutter
Definition An evergreen tree (Myristica fragrans) cultivated in the East Indies for its spicy seeds. A person who gathers nuts.

Where the eye mixes nutmeg and nutter

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
nutmeg
6 ch
nutter

Visual trap between nutmeg and nutter

A purely visual mix-up. nutmeg (/ˈnʌt.mɛɡ/) and nutter (/ˈnʌtə/) 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 64706, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nutmeg is recorded at frequency rank #27,585, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈnʌt.mɛɡ/. nutter is at rank #37,121, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈnʌtə/.

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 64706, this pair ranks #76,354 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of nutmeg vs nutter

Shared letters: entu. Private to "nutmeg": gm. Private to "nutter": r.

"nutmeg" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "nutter" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • nutmegnnutmeg · ntumeg · numteg · nutemg · nutmegg · nutmge · nutmmeg · nuttmeg
  • nutternnutter · ntuter · nuter · nutetr · nutterr · nuttre · untter

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "nutmeg" and "nutter" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈnʌt.mɛɡ/ versus /ˈnʌtə/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "nutmeg" vs "nutter" - which ranks higher?
"nutmeg" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,585 in our English list, against #37,121 for "nutter". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "nutmeg" and "nutter" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "nutmeg" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "nutter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #76,354 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nutmeg" and "nutter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nother vs nutter". 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 #76,354 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list