Which to use
“taut” is an adjective and “tui” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #32,618
- “taut” frequency rank
- #38,658
- “tui” frequency rank
- 71276
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | taut | tui |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Under tension, like a stretched bowstring, rope, or sail; tight. | A species of honeyeater, Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae, a bird which is endemic to New Zealand. |
Where the eye mixes taut and tui
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between taut and tui
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: taut is /tɔːt/ while tui is /ˈtʉi/. 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 71276, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
taut is recorded at frequency rank #32,618, classified as anadj, pronounced /tɔːt/. tui is at rank #38,658, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈtʉi/.
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 71276, this pair ranks #47,354 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of taut vs tui
Shared letters: tu. Private to "taut": a. Private to "tui": i.
"taut" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "tui" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- taut ← atut · tatu · tautt · ttaut · tuat
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "taut" and "tui" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "taut" vs "tui" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "taut" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tui" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #47,354 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "taut" and "tui" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tuft vs tui". 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 #47,354 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.