Which to use
“tuft” and “tux” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #49,682
- “tuft” frequency rank
- #35,996
- “tux” frequency rank
- 85678
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tuft | tux |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A bunch of feathers, grass or hair, etc., held together at the base. | Clipping of tuxedo |
Where the eye mixes tuft and tux
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. tuft runs 4 letters (CVCC) against tux's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between tuft and tux
A purely visual mix-up. tuft (/tʌft/) and tux (/tʌks/) 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 85678, 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/. tux is at rank #35,996, tagged as anoun, pronounced /tʌks/.
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 85678, this pair ranks #10,000 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of tuft vs tux
Shared letters: tu. Private to "tuft": f. Private to "tux": x.
"tuft" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "tux" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- tuft ← tfut · ttuft · tufft · tuftt · tutf · utft
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tuft" for "tux" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "tuft" or "tux" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "tuft" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tux" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #10,000 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tuft" and "tux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Taf vs tuft". 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 #10,000 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.