Which to use
“ruby” and “rugby” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,668
- “ruby” frequency rank
- #4,890
- “rugby” frequency rank
- 24558
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ruby | rugby |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Rubis. | Sport collectif se jouant avec un ballon ovale entre deux équipes sur un terrain de pelouse. Le but étant de faire progresser le ballon jusqu’à l’aplatir dans l’enbut adverse. |
Where the eye mixes ruby and rugby
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: ruby vs rugby
A purely visual mix-up. ruby (\ˈɹuː.bi\) and rugby (\ʁyɡ.bi\) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24558, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ruby is recorded at frequency rank #19,668, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈɹuː.bi\. rugby is at rank #4,890, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁyɡ.bi\.
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 24558, this pair ranks #345,935 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ruby vs rugby
Shared letters: bruy. Private to "ruby": -. Private to "rugby": g.
"ruby" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "rugby" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ruby" and "rugby" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "ruby" or "rugby"?
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 "ruby" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "rugby" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #345,935 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ruby" and "rugby" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "RGB vs ruby". 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 #345,935 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.