thusvstutWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: thus is a adverb, tut is an intj, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“thus” is an adverb and “tut” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,323
“thus” frequency rank
#31,384
“tut” frequency rank
32707
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature thus tut
Definition In this way or manner. Tut tut; an expression of disapproval.

Where the eye mixes thus and tut

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
thus
3 ch
tut

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: thus is /ˈðʌs/ while tut is /tʌt/. 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 (adverb vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32707, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

thus is recorded at frequency rank #1,323, classified as anadv, pronounced /ˈðʌs/. tut is at rank #31,384, tagged as anintj, pronounced /tʌt/.

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 32707, this pair ranks #335,584 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of thus vs tut

Shared letters: tu. Private to "thus": hs. Private to "tut": -.

"thus" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "tut" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • thushtus · thhus · thsu · thuss · tthus · tuhs

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "thus" and "tut" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "thus" is an adverb and "tut" an intj, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "thus" or "tut"?
"thus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,323 in our English list, against #31,384 for "tut". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

You've compared "thus" and "tut". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "thus" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #335,584 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "thus" and "tut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tuft vs tut". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list