tuft vs tux, What's the Difference?

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 spellings diverge

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

4 ch

tuft

3 ch

tux

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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

Frequency comparison

tuft#49,682

tux#35,996

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tuft" and "tux" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/tʌft/ versus /tʌks/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "tuft" or "tux"?

"tux" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,996 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 tux

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