Which to use
“roster” and “rutter” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,176
- “roster” frequency rank
- #47,313
- “rutter” frequency rank
- 53489
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | roster | rutter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A list of individuals or groups, usually for an organization of some kind such as military officers and enlisted personnel enrolled in a particular unit; a muster roll; a sports team, with the names of players who are eligible to be placed in the lineup for a particular game; or a list of students officially enrolled in a school or class. | A horseman or cavalryman, especially a German one, associated with the wars of the 16th and 17th centuries. |
Where the eye mixes roster and rutter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: roster vs rutter
A purely visual mix-up. roster (/ˈɹɒs.tə/) and rutter (/ˈɹʌtə/) 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 53489, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
roster is recorded at frequency rank #6,176, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɹɒs.tə/. rutter is at rank #47,313, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɹʌtə/.
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 53489, this pair ranks #148,520 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of roster vs rutter
Shared letters: ert. Private to "roster": os. Private to "rutter": u.
"roster" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "rutter" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "roster" and "rutter" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "roster" vs "rutter" - which ranks higher?
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 "roster" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "rutter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #148,520 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "roster" and "rutter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rafter vs rutter". 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 #148,520 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.