mute
/mjuːt/
"mute" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“mute” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #11,919 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #11,919
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Not having the power of speech; dumb.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | mute |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /mjuːt/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #11,919 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “mute” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for mute is 4 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /mjuːt/. Corpus data places it at rank #11,919 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for mute, with forms such as "mmute", "mtue", and "muet". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "myth", "mutt", "muted", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English muet, from Anglo-Norman muet, moet, Middle French muet, from mu (“dumb, mute”) + -et, remodelled after Latin mūtus. The correct English form is mute, spelled M-U-T-E.
Definition
- 1Not having the power of speech; dumb.
- 2Silent; not making a sound.
- 3Not uttered; unpronounced; silent; also, produced by complete closure of the mouth organs which interrupt the passage of breath; said of certain letters.
- 4Not giving a ringing sound when struck; said of a metal.
Etymology
From Middle English muet, from Anglo-Norman muet, moet, Middle French muet, from mu (“dumb, mute”) + -et, remodelled after Latin mūtus.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: mmute,mtue,muet,mutte,umte
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of mute - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “mute”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-U-T-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /mjuːt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “myth” - see the side-by-side comparison. mute vs myth
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.