Which to use
“stub” is a noun and “sup” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #26,270
- “stub” frequency rank
- #13,818
- “sup” frequency rank
- 40088
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stub | sup |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Something blunted, stunted, or cut short, such as stubble or a stump. | To sip; to take a small amount of food or drink into the mouth, especially with a spoon. |
Where the eye mixes stub and sup
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: stub vs sup
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: stub is /stʌb/ while sup is /sʌp/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40088, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
stub is recorded at frequency rank #26,270, classified as anoun, pronounced /stʌb/. sup is at rank #13,818, tagged as averb, pronounced /sʌp/.
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 40088, this pair ranks #270,788 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of stub vs sup
Shared letters: su. Private to "stub": bt. Private to "sup": p.
"stub" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "sup" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- stub ← sstub · stbu · sttub · stubb · sutb · tsub
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "stub" and "sup" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "stub" vs "sup" - 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 "stub" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sup" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #270,788 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stub" and "sup" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stub vs Styx". 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 #270,788 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.