mazevsmileWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“maze” and “mile” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#44,065
“maze” frequency rank
#42,680
“mile” frequency rank
86745
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature maze mile
Definition Irrgarten oder ein Gewirr wie ein Irrgarten Meile

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set maze and mile apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
maze
4 ch
mile

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. maze ([meɪz]) and mile ([maɪl]) 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 86745, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

maze is recorded at frequency rank #44,065, classified as anoun, pronounced [meɪz]. mile is at rank #42,680, tagged as anoun, pronounced [maɪl].

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 86745, this pair ranks #89,546 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of maze vs mile

Shared letters: em. Private to "maze": az. Private to "mile": il.

"maze" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "mile" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mazeamze · maez · mazze · mmaze · mzae
  • mileimle · miel · mlie · mmile

Frequency comparison

maze#44,065
mile#42,680

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "maze" and "mile" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([meɪz] versus [maɪl]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "maze" or "mile"?
"mile" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #42,680 in our German list, against #44,065 for "maze". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering maze vs mile

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “maze” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list