Which to use
“sultry” is an adjective and “sutra” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #29,485
- “sultry” frequency rank
- #32,613
- “sutra” frequency rank
- 62098
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sultry | sutra |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Hot and humid; sweltering. | A rule or thesis in Sanskrit grammar or Hindu law or philosophy. |
Where the eye mixes sultry and sutra
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. sultry runs 6 letters (CVCCCV) against sutra's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between sultry and sutra
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sultry is /ˈsʌltɹi/ while sutra is /ˈsuːtɹə/. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62098, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sultry is recorded at frequency rank #29,485, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈsʌltɹi/. sutra is at rank #32,613, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈsuːtɹə/.
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 62098, this pair ranks #90,395 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of sultry vs sutra
Shared letters: rstu. Private to "sultry": ly. Private to "sutra": a.
"sultry" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "sutra" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "sultry" and "sutra" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "sultry" or "sutra"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "sultry" and "sutra" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "sultry" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sutra" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #90,395 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sultry" and "sutra" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sura vs sutra". 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 #90,395 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.