Which to use
“sous” and “spud” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,213
- “sous” frequency rank
- #42,419
- “spud” frequency rank
- 67632
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sous | spud |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of sou | A potato. |
Where the eye mixes sous and spud
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses sous with spud
A purely visual mix-up. sous (/suːz/) and spud (/spʌd/) 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 67632, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sous is recorded at frequency rank #25,213, classified as anoun, pronounced /suːz/. spud is at rank #42,419, tagged as anoun, pronounced /spʌd/.
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 67632, this pair ranks #62,457 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of sous vs spud
Shared letters: su. Private to "sous": o. Private to "spud": dp.
"sous" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "spud" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sous" for "spud" ever safe?
Frequency check: "sous" vs "spud" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "sous" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "spud" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #62,457 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sous" and "spud" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "spud vs suds". 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 #62,457 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.