Which to use
“outlaw” and “outlet” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,801
- “outlaw” frequency rank
- #7,163
- “outlet” frequency rank
- 21964
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | outlaw | outlet |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A fugitive from the law. | A vent or similar passage to allow the escape of something. |
Where the eye mixes outlaw and outlet
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. outlaw and outlet follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses outlaw with outlet
A purely visual mix-up. outlaw (/ˈaʊt.lɔː/) and outlet (/ˈaʊtlɛt/) 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 21964, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
outlaw is recorded at frequency rank #14,801, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈaʊt.lɔː/. outlet is at rank #7,163, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈaʊtlɛt/.
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 21964, this pair ranks #420,066 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of outlaw vs outlet
Shared letters: lotu. Private to "outlaw": aw. Private to "outlet": e.
"outlaw" · 6 letters · shape VVCCVC · "outlet" · 6 letters · shape VVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "outlaw" for "outlet" ever safe?
Frequency check: "outlaw" vs "outlet" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "outlaw" and "outlet" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "outlaw" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "outlet" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #420,066 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "outlaw" and "outlet" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "outlast vs outlaw". 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 #420,066 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.