tuftvsturWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#49,682
“tuft” frequency rank
#39,138
“tur” frequency rank
88820
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tuft tur
Definition A bunch of feathers, grass or hair, etc., held together at the base. Either of two species of wild goat native to Caucasus, West Caucasian tur Capra caucasica or East Caucasian tur Capra cylindricornis.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tuft and tur apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
tuft
3 ch
tur

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. tuft (/tʌft/) and tur (/tʊə/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 88820, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tuft is recorded at frequency rank #49,682, classified as anoun, pronounced /tʌft/. tur is at rank #39,138, tagged as anoun, pronounced /tʊə/.

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 88820, this pair ranks #5,862 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tuft vs tur

Shared letters: tu. Private to "tuft": f. Private to "tur": r.

"tuft" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "tur" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tufttfut · ttuft · tufft · tuftt · tutf · utft

Frequency comparison

tuft#49,682
tur#39,138

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tuft" and "tur" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/tʌft/ versus /tʊə/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "tuft" or "tur"?
"tur" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #39,138 in our English list, against #49,682 for "tuft". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering tuft vs tur

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 “tuft” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list