ug vs ugh, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“ug” is a noun and “ugh” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,268
“ug” frequency rank: #4,993
“ugh” frequency rank: 35261
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	ug	ugh
Definition	A feeling of fear, horror or disgust.	Used to express repugnance, disgust, or annoyance.

Where the eye mixes ug and ugh

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

2 ch

3 ch

ugh

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ug is /ʌɡ/ while ugh is /ʌɣ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “ug” sits inside “ugh”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35261, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ug is recorded at frequency rank #30,268, classified as anoun, pronounced /ʌɡ/. ugh is at rank #4,993, tagged as anintj, pronounced /ʌɣ/.

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 35261, this pair ranks #313,491 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ug vs ugh

Shared letters: gu. Private to "ug": -. Private to "ugh": h.

"ug" · 2 letters · shape VC · "ugh" · 3 letters · shape VCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ug" and "ugh" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ug" is a noun and "ugh" an intj, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "ug" or "ugh"?

"ugh" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,993 in our English list, against #30,268 for "ug". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "ug" and "ugh". Here's where to go from here.

Full dictionary entry for "ug" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "ugh" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #313,491 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"ug" and "ugh" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "UAS vs ug". Nearby pair

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.