Which to use
“rumor” and “rumour” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,761
- “rumor” frequency rank
- #17,709
- “rumour” frequency rank
- 28470
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rumor | rumour |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A statement or claim of questionable accuracy, from no known reliable source, usually spread by word of mouth. | British, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and Ireland spelling of rumor. |
Same sound, different letters: rumor vs rumour
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 5 letters.
Ear matches; page differs - rumor and rumour
This is the hard kind. rumor and rumour are pronounced identically (/ˈɹuːmə(ɹ)/) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28470, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
rumor is recorded at frequency rank #10,761, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɹuːmə(ɹ)/. rumour is at rank #17,709, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɹuːmə(ɹ)/.
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 28470, this pair ranks #370,826 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of rumor vs rumour
Shared letters: moru. Private to "rumor": -. Private to "rumour": -.
"rumor" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "rumour" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "rumor" and "rumour" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "rumor" or "rumour"?
What to do next
You've separated the homophone pair "rumor" / "rumour". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "rumor" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "rumour" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #370,826 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "rumor" and "rumour" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rigour vs rumour". 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 #370,826 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.