Which to use
“mud” and “mug” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #49,806
- “mud” frequency rank
- #31,613
- “mug” frequency rank
- 81419
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mud | mug |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Boue. | Grande tasse dont la forme et la capacité rappellent une chope. |
Where the eye mixes mud and mug
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses mud with mug
A purely visual mix-up. mud (\ˈmʌd\) 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 differ by a single letter - d in “mud” becomes g in “mug”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81419, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mud is recorded at frequency rank #49,806, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈmʌd\. 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 81419, this pair ranks #18,789 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of mud vs mug
Shared letters: mu. Private to "mud": d. Private to "mug": g.
"mud" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "mug" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mud" and "mug" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "mud" vs "mug" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "mud" 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 #18,789 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mud" and "mug" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mud vs MWh". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #18,789 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.