MSTvsmugWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“MST” and “mug” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#27,137
“MST” frequency rank
#31,613
“mug” frequency rank
58750
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature MST mug
Definition Maladie transmissible par les rapports sexuels. Grande tasse dont la forme et la capacité rappellent une chope.

Where the eye mixes MST and mug

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
MST
3 ch
mug

Visual trap between MST and mug

A purely visual mix-up. MST (\ɛm.ɛs.te\) and mug (\mœɡ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58750, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

MST is recorded at frequency rank #27,137, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛm.ɛs.te\. mug is at rank #31,613, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mœɡ\.

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 58750, this pair ranks #107,140 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of MST vs mug

Shared letters: m. Private to "MST": st. Private to "mug": gu.

"MST" · 3 letters · shape CCC  ·  "mug" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "MST" and "mug" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɛm.ɛs.te\ versus \mœɡ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "MST" or "mug" show up more?
"MST" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,137 in our French list, against #31,613 for "mug". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "MST" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mug" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #107,140 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "MST" and "mug" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mug vs MWh". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #107,140 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list