Which to use
“tor” and “torus” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,625
- “tor” frequency rank
- #49,104
- “torus” frequency rank
- 62729
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tor | torus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A craggy outcrop of rock on the summit of a hill, created by the erosion and weathering of rock. | The standard representation of such a space in 3-dimensional Euclidean space: a surface or solid formed by rotating a closed curve, especially a circle, about a line which lies in the same plane but does not intersect it (e.g. like a ring doughnut). |
Where the eye mixes tor and torus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: tor vs torus
A purely visual mix-up. tor (/tɔː/) and torus (/ˈtɔː.ɹəs/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “tor” sits inside “torus”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62729, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tor is recorded at frequency rank #13,625, classified as anoun, pronounced /tɔː/. torus is at rank #49,104, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈtɔː.ɹəs/.
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 62729, this pair ranks #86,845 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of tor vs torus
Shared letters: ort. Private to "tor": -. Private to "torus": su.
"tor" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "torus" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- torus ← otrus · torrus · torsu · toruss · trous · ttorus
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "tor" and "torus" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "tor" vs "torus" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "tor" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "torus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #86,845 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tor" and "torus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "toots vs torus". 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 #86,845 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.