r'svsruseWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#40,861
“r's” frequency rank
#23,664
“ruse” frequency rank
64525
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature r's ruse
Definition plural of r A turning or doubling back, especially of animals to get out of the way of hunting dogs.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set r's and ruse apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
r's
4 ch
ruse

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

r's and ruse are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64525, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

r's is recorded at frequency rank #40,861, classified as anoun. ruse is at rank #23,664, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɹuːz/.

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 64525, this pair ranks #77,290 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of r's vs ruse

Shared letters: rs. Private to "r's": -. Private to "ruse": eu.

"r's" · 2 letters · shape CC  ·  "ruse" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ruserruse · rsue · rues · russe · urse

Frequency comparison

r's#40,861
ruse#23,664

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "r's" and "ruse" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "r's" or "ruse"?
"ruse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,664 in our English list, against #40,861 for "r's". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering r's vs ruse

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “r's” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list