Which to use
“suffer” is a verb and “Sutter” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,338
- “suffer” frequency rank
- #26,274
- “Sutter” frequency rank
- 29612
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | suffer | Sutter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To undergo hardship. | An occupational surname from Swiss German. |
Where the eye mixes suffer and Sutter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between suffer and Sutter
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: suffer is /ˈsʌfə/ while Sutter is /ˈsʌtɚ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29612, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
suffer is recorded at frequency rank #3,338, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈsʌfə/. Sutter is at rank #26,274, tagged as aname, pronounced /ˈsʌtɚ/.
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 29612, this pair ranks #361,504 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of suffer vs Sutter
Shared letters: ersu. Private to "suffer": f. Private to "Sutter": t.
"suffer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "Sutter" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "suffer" for "Sutter" ever safe?
Which is more common, "suffer" or "Sutter"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "suffer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Sutter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #361,504 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "suffer" and "Sutter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sitters vs Sutter". 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 #361,504 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.