tillyvstulleWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“tilly” and “tulle” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#31,380
“tilly” frequency rank
#46,228
“tulle” frequency rank
77608
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tilly tulle
Definition An extra product given to a customer at no additional charge; a lagniappe. A kind of silk lace or light netting, used for clothing, veils, etc.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tilly and tulle apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
tilly
5 ch
tulle

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. tilly (/ˈtɪli/) and tulle (/tjuːl/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77608, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tilly is recorded at frequency rank #31,380, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈtɪli/. tulle is at rank #46,228, tagged as anoun, pronounced /tjuːl/.

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 77608, this pair ranks #26,794 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tilly vs tulle

Shared letters: lt. Private to "tilly": iy. Private to "tulle": eu.

"tilly" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "tulle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tillyitlly · tillyy · tily · tilyl · tlily · ttilly
  • tulletlule · ttulle · tule · tulel · utlle

Frequency comparison

tilly#31,380
tulle#46,228

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tilly" and "tulle" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈtɪli/ versus /tjuːl/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "tilly" or "tulle"?
"tilly" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,380 in our English list, against #46,228 for "tulle". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering tilly vs tulle

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “tilly” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list