tohvstugWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#47,966
“toh” frequency rank
#15,079
“tug” frequency rank
63045
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature toh tug
Definition To collapse (fail or break down internally); to fall asleep or collapse from exhaustion. To pull or drag with great effort.

Where the eye mixes toh and tug

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
toh
3 ch
tug

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. toh ([t˭o˦˨]) and tug (/tʌɡ/) 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 63045, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

toh is recorded at frequency rank #47,966, classified as averb, pronounced [t˭o˦˨]. tug is at rank #15,079, tagged as averb, pronounced /tʌɡ/.

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 63045, this pair ranks #85,191 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of toh vs tug

Shared letters: t. Private to "toh": ho. Private to "tug": gu.

"toh" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "tug" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "toh" and "tug" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([t˭o˦˨] versus /tʌɡ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "toh" or "tug"?
"tug" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,079 in our English list, against #47,966 for "toh". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "toh" and "tug". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "toh" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tug" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #85,191 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "toh" and "tug" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Taf vs toh". Nearby pair

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