Which to use
“shutter” is a noun and “stutter” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,507
- “shutter” frequency rank
- #30,991
- “stutter” frequency rank
- 46498
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | shutter | stutter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | One who shuts or closes something. | To speak (words) with a spasmodic repetition of vocal sounds. |
Where the eye mixes shutter and stutter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: shutter vs stutter
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: shutter is /ˈʃʌt.ə/ while stutter is /ˈstʌtɚ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - h in “shutter” becomes t in “stutter”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46498, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
shutter is recorded at frequency rank #15,507, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈʃʌt.ə/. stutter is at rank #30,991, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈstʌtɚ/.
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 46498, this pair ranks #211,186 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of shutter vs stutter
Shared letters: erstu. Private to "shutter": h. Private to "stutter": -.
"shutter" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "stutter" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "shutter" and "stutter" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "shutter" vs "stutter" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "shutter" and "stutter" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "shutter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stutter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #211,186 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "shutter" and "stutter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stutter vs Sumter". 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 #211,186 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.