Which to use
“unc” is a noun and “us” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,980
- “unc” frequency rank
- #95
- “us” frequency rank
- 19075
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | unc | us |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Clipping of uncle. | Me and at least one other person, excluding the person(s) being addressed. (exclusive us.) |
Where the eye mixes unc and us
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: unc vs us
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: unc is /ʌŋk/ while us is /əs/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19075, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
unc is recorded at frequency rank #18,980, classified as anoun, pronounced /ʌŋk/. us is at rank #95, tagged as apron, pronounced /əs/.
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 19075, this pair ranks #440,671 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of unc vs us
Shared letters: u. Private to "unc": cn. Private to "us": s.
"unc" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "us" · 2 letters · shape VC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "unc" and "us" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "unc" or "us"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "unc" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "us" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #440,671 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "unc" and "us" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "UAS vs unc". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #440,671 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.