Which to use
“tus” is an adjective and “tusk” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #40,544
- “tus” frequency rank
- #46,504
- “tusk” frequency rank
- 87048
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tus | tusk |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de tu. | Défense (dents). |
Where the eye mixes tus and tusk
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between tus and tusk
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tus is \ty\ while tusk is \ˈtʌsk\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “tus” sits inside “tusk”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 87048, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tus is recorded at frequency rank #40,544, classified as anadj, pronounced \ty\. tusk is at rank #46,504, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈtʌsk\.
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 87048, this pair ranks #8,842 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of tus vs tusk
Shared letters: stu. Private to "tus": -. Private to "tusk": k.
"tus" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "tusk" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- tusk ← tsuk · ttusk · tuks · tuskk · tussk · utsk
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "tus" and "tusk" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "tus" or "tusk"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "tus" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tusk" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #8,842 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tus" and "tusk" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "turf vs tusk". 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 #8,842 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.