Which to use
“tuck” is a verb and “tusk” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,039
- “tuck” frequency rank
- #31,017
- “tusk” frequency rank
- 45056
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tuck | tusk |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To pull or gather up (an item of fabric). | One of a pair of elongated pointed teeth that extend outside the mouth of an animal such as walrus, elephant or wild boar, and which continue to grow throughout the animal's life. |
Where the eye mixes tuck and tusk
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses tuck with tusk
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tuck is /tʌk/ while tusk is /ˈtʌsk/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - c in “tuck” becomes s in “tusk”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45056, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tuck is recorded at frequency rank #14,039, classified as averb, pronounced /tʌk/. tusk is at rank #31,017, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈtʌsk/.
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 45056, this pair ranks #224,803 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tuck vs tusk
Shared letters: ktu. Private to "tuck": c. Private to "tusk": s.
"tuck" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "tusk" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tuck" for "tusk" ever safe?
Frequency check: "tuck" vs "tusk" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "tuck" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tusk" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #224,803 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tuck" and "tusk" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tuft vs tusk". 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 #224,803 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.