rotvsrusConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#34,730
“rot” frequency rank
#37,537
“rus” frequency rank
72267
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rot rus
Definition Émission par la bouche, et avec bruit, de gaz stomacaux. Pluriel de ru.

Where the eye mixes rot and rus

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

3 ch
rot
3 ch
rus

Look-alike desk: rot vs rus

A purely visual mix-up. rot (\ʁo\) and rus (\ʁy\) 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 72267, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rot is recorded at frequency rank #34,730, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁo\. rus is at rank #37,537, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁy\.

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 72267, this pair ranks #44,596 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of rot vs rus

Shared letters: r. Private to "rot": ot. Private to "rus": su.

"rot" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "rus" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "rot" and "rus" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\ʁo\ versus \ʁy\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "rot" vs "rus" - which ranks higher?
"rot" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,730 in our French list, against #37,537 for "rus". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "rot" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "rus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #44,596 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "rot" and "rus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Rhys vs rus". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #44,596 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