Which to use
“outdo” is a verb and “outro” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #40,825
- “outdo” frequency rank
- #37,135
- “outro” frequency rank
- 77960
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | outdo | outro |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To excel; go beyond in performance; surpass. | A portion of music at the end of a song. |
Where the eye mixes outdo and outro
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses outdo with outro
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: outdo is /aʊtˈdu/ while outro is /ˈaʊt.ɹoʊ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - d in “outdo” becomes r in “outro”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77960, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
outdo is recorded at frequency rank #40,825, classified as averb, pronounced /aʊtˈdu/. outro is at rank #37,135, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈaʊt.ɹoʊ/.
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 77960, this pair ranks #25,862 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of outdo vs outro
Shared letters: otu. Private to "outdo": d. Private to "outro": r.
"outdo" · 5 letters · shape VVCCV · "outro" · 5 letters · shape VVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "outdo" and "outro" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "outdo" or "outro"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "outdo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "outro" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #25,862 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "outdo" and "outro" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ould vs outdo". 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 #25,862 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.