Which to use
“but” and “Butt” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #423
- “but” frequency rank
- #46,624
- “Butt” frequency rank
- 47047
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | but | Butt |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Objectif, cible. | Flet, fléteau Platichthys flesus |
Where the eye mixes but and Butt
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: but vs Butt
A purely visual mix-up. but (\byt\) and Butt (\bʊt\) 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 extra letter(s) - “but” sits inside “Butt”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47047, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
but is recorded at frequency rank #423, classified as anoun, pronounced \byt\. Butt is at rank #46,624, tagged as anoun, pronounced \bʊt\.
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 47047, this pair ranks #190,075 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of but vs Butt
Shared letters: btu. Private to "but": -. Private to "Butt": -.
"but" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "Butt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Butt ← bbutt · btut · ubtt
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "but" for "Butt" ever safe?
Frequency check: "but" vs "Butt" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "but" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Butt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #190,075 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "but" and "Butt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bury vs Butt". 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 #190,075 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.