Which to use
“sultan” is a noun and “sultry” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,336
- “sultan” frequency rank
- #29,485
- “sultry” frequency rank
- 41821
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sultan | sultry |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The holder of a secular office, formally subordinate to, but de facto the power behind the throne of, the caliph. | Hot and humid; sweltering. |
Where the eye mixes sultan and sultry
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. sultan (CVCCVC) and sultry (CVCCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses sultan with sultry
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sultan is /ˈsʌltən/ while sultry is /ˈsʌltɹi/. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41821, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sultan is recorded at frequency rank #12,336, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈsʌltən/. sultry is at rank #29,485, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈsʌltɹi/.
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 41821, this pair ranks #254,865 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sultan vs sultry
Shared letters: lstu. Private to "sultan": an. Private to "sultry": ry.
"sultan" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "sultry" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "sultan" and "sultry" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "sultan" or "sultry" show up more?
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 "sultan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sultry" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #254,865 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sultan" and "sultry" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sultry vs surry". 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 #254,865 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.