Which to use
“run” and “rust” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,908
- “run” frequency rank
- #37,050
- “rust” frequency rank
- 46958
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | run | rust |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nom de l’étendue de pâturages, en Australie, accordée aux propriétaires de troupeaux de moutons. | Rouille. |
Where the eye mixes run and rust
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between run and rust
A purely visual mix-up. run (\ʁœn\) and rust (\ɻʌst\) 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 46958, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
run is recorded at frequency rank #9,908, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁœn\. rust is at rank #37,050, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɻʌst\.
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 46958, this pair ranks #190,713 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of run vs rust
Shared letters: ru. Private to "run": n. Private to "rust": st.
"run" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "rust" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- rust ← rrust · rsut · russt · rustt · ruts · urst
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "run" for "rust" ever safe?
Frequency check: "run" vs "rust" - 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 "run" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "rust" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #190,713 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "run" and "rust" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rouet vs rust". 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 #190,713 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.